
fk^Jp 



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR 

BUREAD OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE 
A. H. BALDWIN, Cbltf 



SPECIAL AGENTS SERIES-No. 65 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES 

OF BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS, 
NORWAY, AND SWEDEN 



By 
THOMAS H. NORTON 

Consul at Chemnitz, Germany, on detail as 

Commercial Agent of the Department 

of Commerce and Labor 




WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING CFRCE 

1912 



Hf»f' 




$ 






61. s. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR 
BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE 
A. H. BALDWIN, Chief 



SPECIAL AGENTS SERIES— No. 65 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES 

OF BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS, ^^ ^ 
NORWAY, AND SWEDEN > ^ 



By 
THOMAS H. NORTON 

Consul at Chemnitz, Germany, on detail as 

Commercial Agent of the Department 

of Commerce and Labor 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1912 



m 

JAN 7 



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^^-\ 



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5 



CONTENTS 

Page. 

Letter of submittal 5 

Belgium : 

Introduction 7 

Sulphuric acid 8 

Nitric acid — Hydrochloric acid and sodiimi sulphate II 

Superphosphate 12 

Guano and Thomas meal 14 

Fluosilicates — Copperas — Copper 14 

The soda industry 15 

Bleaching powder 18 

Sodium sulphide and sulphites — Magnesium sulphate 18 

Potash salts — Caustic potash 18 

Saltpeter — Salt — Sulphur 19 

Alumina and aluminum sulphate 19 

Alum — Phosphorus and phosphoric acid 20 

Pigments 21 

Compressed gases — Barium sulphate — Borax 22 

White arsenic — Zinc chloride — Hydrogen peroxide 22 

Cement 23 

Matches 23 

Glass 24 

Paper — Coal gas and by-products 25 

Ammonia and ammonium sulphate 25 

Belgian tar works — Aniline dyes 26 

Wood distillation 26 

Tanning extracts — Salicin 27 

Sulphuric ether — Fusel oil — ^Artificial silk 28 

Explosives 28 

Starch — Glue and gelatin 30 

Oils and fats 30 

Varnishes — Perfumes — Pharmaceutical products 32 

Sugar— Coal 32 

Metallurgy 32 

Trade with the United States 34 

Netherlands: 

Introduction .' 38 

Heavy chemicals : . . 39 

Soda— Potash— Salt— Sulphur 39 

Cement — Magnesia — Thorium salts 40 

Fertilizers 40 

Pigments and colors 42 

Explosives — Gas works ^ 45 

Coal tar — Compressed gases 46 

Matches — Cellulose-^Paper 47 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

'Netherlands — Continued. Page. 

Glue — Caoutchouc ^ 48 

Tanning 48 

Starch — Dextrin — Glucose 49 

Oils and fats 50 

Quinine — Acetic acid , 53 

Miscellaneous organic compounds 53 

Sugar — Alcohol 54 

Fuels 54 

Metallurgy 55 

Statistics of the trade in chemicals 56 

Conclusion 59 

Norway: 

Introduction '. 61 

Statistics of chemical and allied industries 62 

Heavy chemicals — Utilization of kelp 62 

Oxalic acid — Copper pigments — ^Matches 63* 

Wood pulp and paper 64 

Fish oils — Superphosphate and ammonium sulphate 64 

Electrochemical industries 64 

Statistics of mines and metallurgical plants 68 

Trade statistics. 68 

Striking features of Norway's chemical industries 71 

Sweden: 

Introduction 72 

Inorganic acids, bases, and salts : 73 

Fertilizers 74 

Explosives 74 

Colors — Calcium carbide and vanadium salts 75 

Matches 75 

Wood pulp 76 

Paper 77 

Alcohol : 77 

Distillation of wood 78 

Limited production of coal tar 79 

Sugar 80 

Starch — Glue — Gelatin — ^Yeast 81 

Miscellaneous chemical products 81 

Mining and metallurgy 81 

Trade statistics 82 



LETTER OF SUBMITTAL. 



Department of Commerce and Labor, 
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 

Washington, November 22, 1912. 
Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith a monograph on the 
chemical industries of Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden 
b}^ Consul Thomas H. Norton, of Chemnitz, Germany, who was 
detailed as commercial agent of the Department of Commerce and 
Labor. The report deals with the supply of raw materials used in 
the chemical industries, the methods of manufacture, the cost of pro- 
duction, and the foreign and domestic trade of each of the countries 
mentioned. There are included observations on the state of the 
chemical-goods trade with the United States and tho prospects of 
improving this trade. 

Respectfully, A. H. Baldwin, 

Chief of Bureau, 
To Hon. Cpiarles Nagel, 

Secretary of Commerce and Labor. 

5 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. NETHER' 
LANDS, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN. 



BELGIUM. 

INTRODUCTIOIV. 



Although the Kingdom of Belgium occupies a small area, its 
industrial activity places it relatively in the foremost rank among 
manufacturing countries. This position dates, in fact, far back in 
the history of the land long before the establishment of the present 
political organization. 

The development of the chemical industries of Belgium has kept 
fairl}^ even pace with the evolution of the textile, metallurgical, and 
other interests. "VVliile not so diversified as in Germany, they still 
constitute an important source of national wealth and form the basis 
for a large and profitable international movement. 

The leading chemical industries have grown naturally as a result 
of the impulse to utilize most effectively the mineral and agricultural 
wealth of the land. The abundant deposits of coal underlying one- 
twentieth of the Kingdom have exerted a powerful influence in this 
direction, facilitating the organization of those branches requiring a 
large expenditure of fuel^ as well as those aiming to use the by- 
products of coking, etc. The presence of ores so important as those 
of iron and zinc had likewise much to do in favoring the establish- 
ment of special industries. Another factor has been the exception- 
ally high standard of Belgian agriculture, which has acted as a pow- 
erful stimulus upon all interests connected with the fertilizer trade. 
Finally, the excellent maritime location of the country has been 
notably favorable. 

As examples of the industrial growth of late years, the following 
figures show the increase in the value of the output from 1880 to 1908 
for a few branches: Coal mined, 123 per cent; quarry products, 60 
per cent ; zinc, 210 per cent ; glass, 90 per cent ; sugar, 288 per cent. 
This upward tendency is reflected in a number of minor industries. 

" Belgium feels to some extent the competition of its two neighbors, 
France and Germany. As a result, the technical chemists of the 
Kingdom have made less effort to produce synthetic compounds of 
complex nature and great cost. Their endeavors have been concen- 
trated rather in building up the industries producing staple articles 
of low value. In this line they have shown a high degree of inven- 
tive skill, capacity for organization, and commercial acuteness; so 
much so, in fact, that Belgium chemicals frequently come into sharp 
competition with those of French and German origin, and not in- 
frequently invade the domestic markets of the adjacent countries. 

7 



8 CHEMICAL INDUSTEIES OF BELGIUM. 

SUL.PHUR1C ACID. 

There are 57 factories in Belgium engaged in the manufacture of 
sulphuric acid or employing it as an important raw material. The 
chief products in the latter are other minerals, various sulphates, and 
especially superphosphates. They possess a total motive power of 
over 6,000 horsepower and employ about 5^000 workmen. Two em- 
ploy over 400 workmen, and only one uses more than 500 horsepower. 
The average wage is 60 cents per day, a rate materially below that 
prevailing in Germany. The maximum wage for skilled labor rarely 
exceeds $1 per day. As a rule works are so located that raw materia] 
can be furnished by water. Some are placed alongside zinc works, 
to which they supply roasted ore; others adjoin the great glass works, 
which depend upon them for sodium sulphate. A number of estab- 
lishments are so located that they can easily secure coal from the 
German mines, which costs 20 to 40 cents less than the Belgian coal. 

Of the above-mentioned category of chemical works, 26 factories 
are direct producers of sulphuric acid. In 16 of these the production 
of superphosphate is a prominent feature. The total volume of lead 
chambers in use is about 400,000 cubic meters. The annual produc- 
tion of acid is much less than the theoretical capacity of the works. 
It varies from 300,000 to 320,000 tons of acid, averaging 60° Baume. 

The raw materials used as sources of sulphur are zinc blende and 
iron pyrites. The latter is imported chiefly from Spain and Por- 
tugal and occasionally from Japan. Belgium itself produces only 
about 200 tons of this mineral annually. The copper pyrites of 
Portugal and also that of Norway is not infrequently employed in 
Belgian works, the 2 to 3.5 per cent of copper being extracted by 
cementation. 

Besides the domestic production of zinc blende, which averages 
annually a little over 1,000 tons, there is a large import, especially 
from Algeria, France, Germany, Sardinia^ and Sweden, and even 
from Australia and Japan. The imports from America have ceased 
completely during the past few years. The Algerian ore, totally 
free from arsenic, is employed in producing the purest grades of acid. 
Much of the zinc ore is treated in acid factories connected with zinc 
works. The charge for roasting zinc blende is usually $1.55 per ton 
and all cost of transport. 

METHODS or ROASTING PYRITES AND ZINC BLENDE. 

The Maletra pyrites kiln is used in nearly all the works. One 
establishment has introduced German Humboldt mechanical kilns, 
but recognition of this type is slow, as the cost of manual labor in 
Belgium is relatively low. 

In roasting zinc blende the Eichhorn muffle oven, with slight modi- 
fications, is in general use. Each oven is divided into four independ- 
ent, symmetrical divisions, differing in this respect from the Rhe- 
namia type, common in Germany, which has but two divisions. Pro- 
vision is made for heating the air entering the lower part of the 
muffle by conducting it through passages in the inclosing masonry. 
A temperature of 900° to 1,000° C. is' maintained in the muffle. The 
gas issuing from the muffle contains 6 to T per cent of SOg, and much 
of this is already oxidized to SO3, from 4 to 30 per cent of the 
sulphur present being in the form of trioxide. With the average 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF BELGIUM. • 9 

blende, containing 25 per cent of sulphur, there is a yield of roasted 
ore equal to 87 per cent of the original weight. With careful man- 
agement this is obtained free from sulphur, an essential feature when 
it is to undergo reduction to metallic zinc. 

In a few Belgian works, where there are frequent changes in the 
use of blende or pyrites, the Delplace combination oven has been 
introduced. This consists of a series of superimposed shelves, much 
as in the ordinary pyrites kiln, but so constructed that with the aid 
of a hearth the entire system can be transformed into a muffle fur- 
nace. In the Delplace oven the consumption of fuel amounts to 11 
per cent of the weight of blende employed. In the Eichhorn type 
it is usually 15 per cent. 

Various experiments have been made in Belgium with mechanical 
roasters for zinc blende, but thus far without success. In some works 
the waste heat from the roasting ovens is utilized to partly coke the 
coal employed. The resultant gas and coke are both burned beneath 
the muffles. 

Workmen in charge of pyrites kilns and blende furnaces are often 
paid according to the amount of ore roasted, with a certain system of 
premiums for high yields. The method is less in vogue where zinc 
blende exclusively is roasted. 

The purple ore withdrawn from the pyrites kilns is sold to some 
extent to Belgian blast furnaces; the bulk, however, is exported to 
German works. Purple ore commands from $1.55 to $1.75 per ton. 
The residues from the burning of copper pyrites are always submit- 
ted to the cementation process, even when the percentage of copper 
falls as low as 0.3 per cent. 

BELGIAN CHAMBER SYSTEMS. 

In the Belgian chamber systems the average unit contains 200,000 
cubic feet. The largest unit in operation has 282,000 cubic feet. The 
value of the newly devised Moritz chambers has been promptly recog- 
nized in Belgium, where 3 of the 8 sulphuric-acid works equipped 
with this valuable feature are located. They are the Societe Anonyme 
des Superphosphates et Guanos, at Ghent (110^000 cubic feet) ; the 
Societe Anonyme des Industries Chimiques de Wisele (265,000 cubic 
feet) ; and the Rosier Compagnie, at Moustier (282,000 cubic feet). 
All of these establishments report a very marked economic advantage 
in the use of the Moritz chambers, and Belgian works enlarging their 
capacity will adopt this new system, according to the present opinion 
of technical chemists. There is a general recognition that this method 
of construction involves less space, means less depreciation and longer 
life for the chambers, and effects a notable saving in the consumption 
of nitric acid. 

Two Belgian works have adopted the circular construction — a cen- 
tral chamber inclosed by an annular chamber. The Glover and Gay- 
Lussac towers are located in the space between the two. The device 
has failed to demonstrate any advantage over the ordinary rectangu- 
lar system. 

Forced draft is now of general application. In the works of the 
Vieille Montague — the largest in Belgium — there are 10 units. Each 
unit is provided with a ventilator that withdraws the gas from its 
Gay-Lussac tower and forces it into a single large central Gay- 
Lussac. From the latter the combined gas current passes through 



10 • CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 

a tower fed with water. As a result nitric vapors are almost com- 
pletely absorbed. There is an extended use in Belgian works of the 
Delplace automatic meter for controlling the volume of acid dis- 
tributed to the Glover and Gay-Lussac towers. The introduction 
into the lead chambers of water in the form of spray in the place of 
steam is becoming general, especially for the warmer season of the 
year. 

CONCENTRATION METHODS. 

For the concentration of sulphuric acid the Delplace retorts of 
platinum were in general use a decade ago. They have now dis- 
appeared almost completely since the enormous increase in the value 
of platinum. In a few factories use is made of the Hartmann & 
Benker system of evaporation in a series of porcelain basins. These 
are usually arranged in rows of 20 basins, each slightly higher than 
the next succeeding. Two such rows are located side by side over a 
sloping furnace. Chamber acid is concentrated to 56° Baume in 
open lead pans provided with heating coils. The 56° acid enters the 
topmost basin of a series and passes downward from one basin to 
another by means of projecting lips, until in the last of the series 
it attains 66° Baume. 

This method is specially adapted for the concentration of pure 
acids, as there is no contamination from the products of combustion 
in the furnace. These porcelain basins replace the more fragile 
glass basins of earlier days, but are themselves liable to crack oc- 
casionally as the result of changes in temperature, and do not resist 
absolutely the attack of boiling sulphuric acid. They are now being 
replaced with success by basins of fused quartz. These latter are 
absolutely unaffected by alterations of temperature. For the purpose 
in question basins are made with a diameter of 12.2 inches and a depth 
of 5.1 inches. The cost of such a basin is $5.95. Good results have 
also been secured by the use of basins made of so-called neutral iron. 
This combination of iron and silicon is almost totally unaffected by 
boiling sulphuric acid. Its chief disadvantage lies in the difficulty of 
working the material. 

KESSLER EVAPORATOR GAILLARD TOWER. 

Where purity is not so essential, the Kessler apparatus is largely 
used. This consists essentially of a shallow vat of sandstone inclosed 
in lead, in which 57° acid is introduced. The hot gases from a coke 
furnace play over the surface of the acid and produce a rapid evapo- 
ration. A series of partitions above the surface cause the gas current 
to pass back and forth several times before leaving the vat. The lat- 
ter is surmounted by a so-called regenerator, containing perforated 
plates of lava,^ over which the weak acid trickles on its way to the 
evaporation vat, so that concentration begins at this stage, and the 
heat is well utilized. The operation is continuous, acid of 66° issuing 
from an outlet at one end of the vat. The gas current on leaving the 
regenerator passes through a tower lined with lead and filled with 
fragments of coke. This acts as a filter to retain particles of acid 
carried along mechanically. The weak acid collected in the filter 
ranges in strength from 15° to 30° Baume. It is directed to the 
Glover tower, or is employed in extracting the residues of copper 
pyrites. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 11 

During the past five years the Kessler evaporator lias frequently 
been replaced by the Gaillard tower, which is regarded now in Bel- 
gium as the simplest and most effective device for concentration on a 
large scale. The tower is constructed of Volvicq lava, cut in the 
form of rings, which are cemented one upon another with the aid of 
a mixture of ground lava and water glass. The usual height is 50 
feet and the diameter 7 feet. Chamber acid is forced into the tower 
at the top in the form of spray. In descending it encounters a cur- 
rent of hot gas coming from a coke furnace and entering the tower 
slightly above its base. Under these conditions concentration takes 
place easily and completely. Acid of 66° collects on the bottom and 
is drawn off through cooled pipes. The gas current, saturated with 
aqueous vapor, issues from an opening in the top of the tower, passes 
through a smaller tower filled with refractory brick, over which w^ater 
trickles, and finally through a coke filter similar to that of the 
Kessler apparatus 

The contact method of manufacturing sulphuric acid is still in its 
infancy in Belgium. Two factories have the requisite equipment, 
but little attempt is made at production on a large scale. As a mat- 
ter of fact there is only a small demand in the industries of the King-, 
dom for sulphuric anhydride. The necessity of using very pure 
sulphur dioxide, free especially from arsenic, has militated strongly 
against the attempts to establish the process upon an extensive tech- 
nical basis. 

TRANSPORTATION TRADE. 

The transportation of sulphuric acid in Belgium, apart from the 
use of the carboy, is usually effected in iron reservoir cars holding 
10 to 15 tons. Some use is made of cars fitted with containers of 
sandstone, eight to the car. Barges with four to six cylindrical iron 
reservoirs, each holding 25 tons, are employed for shipment by Avater. 
Iron cylinders holding 100 to 300 liters (liter =1.056 quarts) are em- 
ployed usually when the acid is shipped to foreign countries. When 
shipment is made in iron containers the acid is over 50° Baume. 

The export of sulphuric acid is chiefly to Germany, the total for 
1911 being 89,000 tons; Belgium is, in fact, the only country shipping- 
large amounts of sulphuric acid to Germany. As freights are not 
high, the competition frequently causes very low rates for acid along 
the Rhine and in Westphalia. Of the total production about two- 
thirds is required in the manufacture of superphosphate. The other 
domestic industries consuming important amounts are the manufac- 
ture of hydrochloric acid, sodium sulphate, nitric acid, the various 
metallic sulphates, glucose, nitroglycerin, the saponification of fats, 
and the refining of rapeseed oil. 

NITRIC ACID— HYDROCHLORIC ACID AND SODIUM SULPHATE. 

There are 13 factories engaged in the manufacture of nitric acid. 
In most cases the bulk of the product is used in the factory itself in 
connection with other operations. The Valentiner method of dis- 
tilling under a partial vacuum, with air dilution, is mostly used, 
although condensation by the Sgoklund and the Guttmann-Kohr- 
mann systems is also encountered. Belgian factories are dependent 
upon German, and especially upon English, manufactures of acid- 
proof, air-tight apparatus of stoneware for the needs of this branch. 



12 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 

Most of the nitric acid produced is of 36° strength. A certain 
amount of 45° and of 48° is prepared for use in the manufacture of 
artificial silk and high explosives. The annual production, calcu- 
lated to acid of 36°, is over 11,000 tons. There is an export of about 
2,000 tons to the adjacent countries, chiefly to France and the Nether- 
lands. A large fraction of the production is utilized in the domestic 
manufacture of sulphuric acid. 

There are 11 factories that produce annually about 30,000 tons of 
sulphate and nearly as much hydrochloric acid. Rock salt, brought 
from Germany, is the usual raw material. Most of the sulphate is 
consurned in the great glass works of Belgium. The domestic supply 
is now insufficient to meet the increasing demands of the glass indus- 
try, and there is an annual import of sulphate exceeding 50,000 tons. 
It is furnished chiefly by Germany, but France and Great Britain 
also contribute. The acid is employed in the cementation of copper 
and in the manufacture of zinc chloride and acetic acid. In the 
chemical works at Droogenbosch the acid vapors given off from the 
sulphate oven are used directly for the production of chlorine by the 
Deacon process. The acid is shipped in bulk on cars provided with 
reservoirs of iron, lined with ebonite, which have taken the place of 
the wooden vats coated with tar formerly in vogue. There is a very 
limited export of either sulphate or acid. 

The production of these two chemicals, as well as the manufacture 
of sulphuric acid in Belgium, is controlled by the well-organized 
syndicate, the Union Commerciale^ which rigidly restricts produc- 
tion, dividing it equitably among the various works; it thus pre- 
vents overproduction and keeps up prices. This syndicate was 
founded in 1890 and has prevented any serious crises in the sulphuric- 
acid industries. 

SUPERPHOSPHATE. 

The manufacture of superphosphate has been highly developed in 
Belgium, partly on account of the abundant supply of cheap sul- 
phuric acid, partly in response to the exceptionally large demands 
for fertilizers brought about by the intensive agricultural methods 
of the land. There are 33 superphosphate factories — of these, 16 
manufacture their own acid. The industry centers largely about 
Antwerp on account of the ease with which raw material can be 
procured and shipments to other countries effected. 

Belgium has fairly extensive deposits of phosphate rock, but they 
are mostly of an inferior grade. The rock found around Liege and 
Mons contains 50 per cent or less of tricalcium phosphate. Richer 
deposits, averaging 60 per cent, are encountered in the vicinity of 
Baudour. As it is impossible to secure with the domestic rock super- 
phosphate containing much over 15 per cent of P2O5, the practice is 
to mix Belgian phosphates with the purer and richer material im- 
ported from other countries. Some is imported from the region of 
the Somme in ^France. Larger amounts come from Algiers and 
Tunis and also from the islands of the Pacific. About 65,000 tons 
of Florida phosphate are imported annually. There is also a small 
import from the island of Arruba, in the West Indies. These foreign 
phosphates cost $9.60 to $11.60 per ton, while the native rock ranges 
from $4.80 to $5.80. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF BELGIUM. 



13 



In the treatment of rock, chamber acid of 53° Baume is used chiefly. 
In some works the sulphuric acid employed in purifying coal tar 
finds here a final utilization. 

EQUIPMENT OF FACTORIES. 

The general equipment of the factories and the process do not 
vary much from what is encountered in the best German establish- 
ments. The American GriiRn crusher for phosphate rock is widely 
employed. The mixers are mostly of the vertical type, and ordi- 
narily 9 feet 10 inches in diameter and 3 feet 3 inches high. A mixer 
is usually so located that it can be emptied at will into two ad- 
joining cellars. In a few factories portable mixers running on rails 
have been introduced. Cellars are almost invariably provided with 
powerful ventilators for the complete removal of the fumes of hydro- 
fluoric acid and silicon fluoride. Both are transformed into sodium 
fluosilicate. Drying apparatus is still used to some extent_, especially 
when low-grade phosphate has been employed. As a rule the hot 
superphosphate, after removal from the cellars, is mixed with 5 
per cent of its weight of degelatinized bone meal and finely ground 
Algiers phosphate. This treatment lowers the amount of free acid 
present and yields at the same time a sufficiently dry product. The 
larger factories are arranged to avoid all unnecessary expenditure of 
power in handling the great masses of material. The crushers are 
stationed on the ground floor. The phosphate after being powdered 
passes to an upper floor, where the mixers are located. Immediately 
below these are the cellars, and there is a continual descent at each 
successive stage of the handling. Automatic lines of cars and aerial 
transport by cable, with the aid of electricity, are introduced in 
several establishments. Workmen in the superphosphate factories are 
paid usually by the amount of material handled and not by the day. 

STATISTICS or THE INDUSTRY. 

The output has increased rapidly during recent years. In 1903 
it was 230,000 tons; in 1910 it had reached 540,000 tons, or 6 per 
cent of the world's production. This increase has been largely due 
to the marvelous expansion of the export trade. In 1910 this had 
reached 346,080 tons against an import of 69,840 tons (almost en- 
tirely from France). The average value per metric ton of this export 
was $9.86. The net export of superphosphate front Belgium, 276,240 
tons, compares favorably with the net export of Germany — 150,400 
tons — in 1911. The total export of artificial fertilizers from the 
United States in 1910 was 39,500 long tons. 

The dominant position occupied by Belgium in supplying foreign 
demands for superphosphate renders it a matter of interest to analyze 
its export trade. In 1910 the shipments were as follows: 



To— 



France 

Spain 

Germany 

Netherlands . 
Great Britain 

Portugal 

Italy 



Metric 
tons. 



119,900 
60,000 
57, 000 
54, 900 
19,900 
19,500 
4,600 



To- 



United States 

Switzerland 

Dutch colonies. . . 

Sweden 

Egypt 

Russia 

Austria-Hungary 



Metric 
tons. 



4,100 
2,700 
2,500 
2,200 
1,600 
1,200 
1,000 



India 

Australia... 

Natal 

Mexico 

Cape Colony 
Brazil 



Metric 
tons. 



950 
600 
500 
200 
100 
40 



14 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF BELGIUM. 



In addition to the production of normal superphosphate there is 
an annual production in a single factory of about 500 tons of bone 
superphosphate made from degelatinized bones. The entire output is 
exported to France. In another factory spent animal charcoal from 
the sugar works is converted into superphosphate. The annual pro- 
duction of 400 tons is used locally. 

GUANO AND THOMAS MEAL. 

The treatment of raw guano with sulphuric acid is carried on 
extensively at Burght, where a large factory is devoted to the pro- 
duction of soluble guano. The imports of crude guano in 1910 were 
15,300 tons from Peru and 3,000 tons from the west coast of Africa. 
Much of the soluble guano is exported to Germany and the Nether- 
lands. A single factory is devoted to the manufacture of artificial 
guano. The raw material used is leather waste and the refuse from 
fish-preserving works. 

Belgium was one of the first countries to recognize the fertilizing 
value of Thomas slag. The manufacture of ground slag has assumed 
large proportions, and Belgium has become a leading exporter of this 
important product. 

The grinding is performed almost exclusively in mills equipped 
with steel balls, similar to those in general use for cement grinding. 
The long horizontal, cylindrical mills, which originated in Denmark, 
render especially good service. Mills are tightly inclosed and ven- 
tilators carry off the dust to suitable chambers. The standard of 
fineness requires a product of which 75 per cent can pass through a 
sieve with a mesh of 0.17 millimeter (0.0067 inch). 

There are 7 steel works in the country using the basic process. In 
addition to the slag which they furnish, there is an annual import of 
about 100,000 tons of crude slag, nine-tenths of which comes from 
French works. Slag is ground in 5 steel works and in 6 other 
establishments devoted to the manufacture of fertilizers. The prepa- 
ration of Thomas meal occupies 300 workmen and requires a total of 
2,000 horsepower. The domestic consumption is not much below 
100,000 tons. In 1910 the export attained 521,500 tons, with an 
average value of $8.59 per metric ton. 

The chief purchasers were as follows : 



Coxintries. 



Germany 

Italy 

Russia 

Netherlands . 
Great Britain 



Metric 
tons. 



330,300 
45, 700 
29, 100 
23, 700 
21, 400 



Countries. 



France 

United States 

Spain 

India 

Sweden 



Metric 
tons. 



15, 400 
9,000 
7,600 
4,900 
4,500 



Countries. 



Portugal 

Australia 

Austria-Hungary 

Cape Colony 

Dutch colonies. . . 



Metric 
tons. 



4,200 
2,700 
2,100 
1,700 
1,700 



The prominence of Belgium in this field will be recognized when 
comparison is made with Germany, which in 1911 had a net export 



of 95,000 tons of Thomas meal. 



FLUOSIIilCATES— COPPERAS— COPPER. 

As noted above, in Belgian superphosphate works great care is 
Taken to withdraw from the operation all traces of fluorine com- 
pounds. Primarily intended as a sanitary precaution, this has led 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF BELGIUM. 15 

to the systematic manufacture of a valuable by-product, sodium fluo- 
silicate. The current of gas issuing from the ventilators is directed 
through wooden towers or galleries containing quartz fragments. 
The hydrofluoric acid present is transformed into silicon tetrafluo- 
ride. In company with the silicon fluoride already liberated in the 
primary reaction, it next reacts in an absorption chamber with water, 
in finely divided spray, and hydrofluosilicic acid is formed. This 
dissolves in the water present, and an acid solution of 5° Baume is 
withdrawn from the chamber. On the addition of a salt solution, 
sodium fluosilicate- is precipitated. There are two factories making 
a specialty of the production of this compound. The annual output 
is about 200 tons, part of which is exported to Germany. This fluo- 
silicate is used in the enameling of iron utensils and in the manu- 
facture of milk glass, for which purpose it advantageously replaces 
crA^olite. There is also a growing demand for solutions of hydro- 
fluosilicic acid for disinfection purposes, for the removal of lime from 
hides, and in connection with the electrolytic precipitation of lead. 

Ferrous sulphate is produced in five Belgian factories, the annual 
output exceeding 5,000 tons. Apart from the direct manufacture 
by treating scrap iron with sulphuric acid, there is a certain amount 
recovered from the acid waste water of the larger nail factories at 
Fontaine-l'Eveque. At Ghent the systematic lixiviation of pyrites 
cinder has been used with success. The product is used chiefly in 
Belgium itself as a disinfectant and as a fungicide in fruit culture. 
A certain amount is employed in making colcothar. Ferric chloride 
is produced in a single factory, which furnishes annually 65 tons. 

A considerable amount of copper is recovered from the cupriferous 
pyrites employed in the Belgian sulphuric-acid works. Where the 
percentage of copper is low, the cinder is extracted with acidulated 
water, and scrap iron is introduced to effect the precipitation. When 
larger amounts of copper are present in the cinder it is roasted in 
muffle furnaces with rock salt. The resultant product is thoroughly 
leached with acidulated water. The solution contains nearly all the 
copper originally present in the form of chloride and saltpeter. From 
the solution it is precipitated by the addition of iron. The cement 
copper thus obtained in the form of powder is collected and fused. 
The crude metal contains from 75 to 90 per cent of pure copper. 
Much of it is exported for refining, Belgium itself possessing no 
works for the metallurgical treatment of copper. The remainder 
serves for the manufacture of copper sulphate. FiA^e factories pro- 
duce this salt, and the annual output is over 2,500 tons. Three-quar- 
ters of this is exported to France for use as a fimgicide in vineyards. 

About 50,000 tons annually of cinder are submitted to the cementa- 
tion process. The residual purple ore is free from sulphur and is in 
demand for blast furnaces. 

THE SODA INDUSTRY, 

The most interesting feature connected with the development of 
technical chemistry in Belgium is the fact that it is the birthplacfe of 
the ammonia-soda process. The fundamental principle of this re- 
markable process was outlined in England as far back as 1838. Ke- 
peated attempts were made for a quarter of a century in England, 
France, and Germany to build up a successful industry, but in vain. 



16 CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF BELGItJM. 

Finally, in 1863, Ernest Solvay took up the problem. In his factory, 
at Gouillet, near Charleroi, he successfully perfected the various 
steps of the process, and shortly placed it on a remunerative basis. 
By 1873 the time-honored Leblanc soda method of producing soda 
was seriously threatened, and branch factories for ammonia soda 
were established in various countries. Ten years later it was recog- 
nized on all sides as successful. Since then no Leblanc plants have 
been constructed, and the existing works are gradually being disman- 
tled. Out of a total annual production for the world of over 2,000,- 
000 tons of soda, it is estimated that only 100,000 tons are produced 
by the old method. Solvay 's success was due to the invention of 
apparatus admirably adapted for the new class of reactions when 
operated on a large scale and to a remarkable coordination of all 
phases of the manufacture, involving a relatively insignificant loss 
of ammonia. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE SOLVAY CO. 

Ammonia soda can be manufactured most advantageously where 
saturated salt springs are available. This fact has prevented 
Belgium from becoming as great a center of the soda industry as 
otherwise would be the case. Its supply of salt for this purpose 
comes from France. The Solvay Co. has, in consequence, ex- 
tended its operations to other lands, and it now constitutes the most 
powerful international manufacturing organization in the whole 
domain of chemical industry. The original establishment at Couillet 
has not been materially enlarged, except to provide for the electro- 
lytic manufacture of chlorine and caustic soda. It now employs 520 
workmen. In France the company controls the large works at Dom- 
basle and Salin-de-Giraud, employing 2,500 operatives, and manu- 
facturing over 150,000 tons of soda, nearly enough to supply the 
domestic demand. The English branch, Brunner, Mond & Co., em- 
ploys over 4,000 operatives in 5 large works, and produces annually 
over 200,000 tons of soda, nearly one-half of the total English out- 
put. In 5 German factories, utilizing 21,000 horsepower and em- 
ploying 5,000 workmen, the company manufactures over one-half of 
the soda required in the Empire. The factory at Torrelavega, in 
Spain, has 600 worlonen, and supplies the entire demand of the 
country. The Russian factories number 3, with 2,500 workmen. 
Those in Austria-Hungary number 5. The 2 American establish- 
ments at Syracuse, N. Y., and Delray, Mich., rank among the largest 
in the world. In addition to the above list of works under the con- 
trol of the company there are ammonia-soda factories in Germany, 
France, and the United States, employing modified methods, such 
as the Honigmann process and the Mallet-Boulouvard system. 

The Belgian works at Couillet are regarded as model chemical 
factories. The 8-hour workday has been introduced, and in diversi- 
fied provision for the comfort and welfare of employees they compare 
favorably with the best examples in Germany. 

• THE COUILLET WORKS FOREIGN TRADE. 

From the technical standpoint the Couillet works are regarded as 
presenting the highest possible degree of efficiency under existing 
conditions. The loss of ammonia is now reduced to 1 pound of am- 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 17 

monium sulphate per 100 pounds of soda. Thirty years ago it was 4 
pounds. For the same weight of soda 180 pounds of rock salt (95 
to 98 per cent) are required. The consumption of limestone is 80 
pounds, of coal 80 pounds, and of coke 15 pounds. This represents a 
total cost, of production, under existing prices, of about $9.50 per 
metric ton. There is thus a wide margin between current rates for 
soda ash and the cost of manufacture. The influence of the inter- 
national union of Solvay enterprises has been mainly instrumental 
in maintaining a rate during late years that has barely allowed ex- 
istence to surviving Leblanc works, although less than half the price 
that prevailed 40 years ago. 

In one Belgian factory soda is still produced by the roasting of 
cryolite with limestone. The product on lixiviation yields a solution 
of sodium aluminate. Limekiln gases are passed through this and 
precipitate aluminum hydrate. The residual solution of sodium 
carbonate is then evaporated. The process yields a very pure 
soda ash. 

Belgium carries on a considerable foreign trade in soda ash. In 
1910 the imports were 28,600 tons, of which 21,800 tons came from 
France and 5,900 tons from ' Germany. The exports were 37,600 
tons. Italy was the most important purchaser, taking 9,900 tons. 
Then followed, in order, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Nor- 
way, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Russia, etc. The 
average price of exported soda ash was $20.75 per metric ton. The 
large domestic consumption is due chiefly to the needs of the exten- 
sive textile industries of Belgium for a variety of compounds de- 
rived ultimately from soda. Considerable amounts are absorbed by 
the glass works, especially by those producing crystal. 

SAL SODA SODIUM BICARBONATE CAUSTIC SODA. 

The domestic demand for bicarbonate is met chiefly by the Solvay 
works. Sal soda, however, is produced by over 20 small factories. 
In addition to pure soda crystals there is an extensive manufacture 
of a mixed salt containing more or less sulphate, and several fac- 
tories, in addition, prepare Glauber's salt. The annual output of all 
of these different salts is estimated at 40,000 tons. 

There is an annual production of about 2,000 tons of solid caustic. 
Some small factories still prepare caustic soda from soda ash, with 
the aid of lime, but most of the above quantity is supplied by the 
Solvay Co., which has a separate factory at Jemeppe for the elec- 
trolytic preparation. The company owns the patents of Castner 
and Kellner for Europe, and not only employs their methods in their 
various subsidiary establishments, but also issues licenses to a num- 
ber of chemical firms scattered over the Continent. At the Jemeppe 
works the Castner-Kellner method is somewhat modified; In place 
of double and triple cells, with a salt solution in the cathode compart- 
ments, use is made of large single cells containing salt solution alone. 
A current of mercury enters sl(5wly on one side of the cell, while a 
layer of sodium amalgam (0.2 per cent Na) flows off on the other 
side. The salt solution moves in the opposite direction. Decompo- 
sition of the amalgam by the aid of steam, with formation of caustic 
soda, takes place in a separate vessel, and the mercury is conducted 
65401°— 12 2 



18 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 

back to the cell. This Solvay modification requires a higher elec- 
tric tension than is needed for the operation of a Castner-Kellner 
cell, but the construction and operation are much simpler. Solutions 
containing over 20 per cent of NaOH are easily obtained. 

BliBACHING POWDER. 

The chlorine liberated in the electrolytic process at Jemeppe and 
that obtained by the Deacon method at Droogenbusch is used ex- 
clusively in the manufacture of bleaching powder. The annual pro- 
duction exceeds 6,000 tons and meets domestic needs. Two factories 
prepare solutions of bleaching powder, furnishing annually about 
1,600 tons. In 5 factories sodium hypochlorite is made, the output 
being about 500 tons annually. 

It is worthy of note in this connection that Solvay attempted, from 
the earliest years of the successful solution of the ammonia-soda 
problem, to develop a technical process for saving chlorine from the 
waste calcium chloride of the manufacture, thus utilizing both con- 
stituents, in the salt originally employed. No practical method has 
thus far been evolved. Equally unsuccessful have been the long- 
continued efforts to secure chlorine or hydrochloric acid, on an eco- 
nomic basis, from the enormous quantities of magnesium chloride 
(500,000 tons annually) that are a waste product of the Stassfurt 
potash works. 

SODIUM SULPHIDE AND SULPHITES— 3IAGNESIU3I SULPHATE. 

There is an annual production of about 150 tons of the impure 
sulphide obtained by fusing sulphur and soda. The product is ex- 
ported chiefly to Argentina, where it is used as a sheep wash. 

Sodium bisulphite in solution is manufactured to the extent of 
2,500 tons annually. Most of this is exported and destined for use 
in washing raw wool. There is also a production of about 800 tons 
of calcium-bisulphite solution. This, as well as sulphurous acid in 
solution, is used in the country itself for the cleansing of beer casks 
and for dissolving gelatine. Sulphur dioxide is obtained by burn- 
ing Italian sulphur. 

The technical grades of magnesium sulphate and Epsom salts are 
manufactured in 2 factories with an output of 1,700 tons. About 
two-thirds of this is exported. Stassfurt kieserite forms the raw 
material. 

POTASH SALTS— CAUSTIC POTASH. 

The utilization of the potassium compounds in wool gTease and in 
the residues from beet-sugar manufacture is followed with unusual 
care in Belgium, and with a fair profit despite the competition of 
Stassfurt potash deposits. 

The evaporation of the wash water and the calcination of residues 
is carried on in 2 large works engaged in the scouring of wool, and 
in 2 small factories that collect the solutions from various sources. 
They produce annually about 1,100 tons of crude potassium car- 
bonate. 

In 7 distilleries devoted to the production of alcohol from the 
molasses of beet-root sugar works, the vinasse, or liquid residue 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM, 19 

from the stills, is evaporated to dryness and calcined. The amount 
of potassium salts in the crude product ranges from 40 to 70 per 
cent. On an average 100 pounds of molasses yield 10 pounds of 
this impure salt. The annual product is about 4,000 tons. There are 
3 refineries that treat the crude material from both sources and ob- 
tain from it potassium carbonate, in varying degrees of purity, by 
lixiviation and crystallization. It is possible to secure a 95 per cent 
salt, but the bulk of the product of the refineries contains 80 per 
cent of potassium carbonate. The annual output of about 2,000 
tons is used chiefly in the manufacture of soft soap. 

A single factory at Antwerp produces solid caustic potash to the 
extent of 500 tons annually. The manufacture is becoming unre- 
munerative, as caustic potash prepared by the electrolysis of potas- 
sium chloride in Germany is now being freely exported. In 1911 
Belgium purchased 7,800 tons of caustic potash from its neighbor. 

SALTPETER— SALT— SULPHUR. 

Five factories in Belgium are engaged in the conversion of 
sodium nitrate from Chile, with the aid of potassium chloride from 
Stassfurt, into saltpeter. Three of these factories are connected 
with the German syndicate for controlling the production of this 
salt. The annual production is about 2,500 tons. One-third is ex- 
ported to the Orient and South America. The consumption of 
saltpeter is steadily declining with the more and more limited use of 
black gunpowder. 

There are about 40 salt works in Belgium devoted to the refining 
of imported salt. Only 6 of these produce over 1,000 tons an- 
nually. The number of workmen employed is 210, and the yearly 
output is 30,000 tons. In 1910 Belgium imported 64,000 tons of 
refined salt, chiefly from France, Great Britain, and Germany. The 
imports of crude salt were 142,000 tons, of which the bulk came 
from France and Germany, although 10,000 tons were received from 
Tunis. 

Belgium consumes annually about 15,000 tons of sulphur, sup- 
plied mostly by Italy. The large sulphur refineries of Koch and Reis 
at Antwerp and Dumkerque are among the best equipped in Europe. 
They produce annually about 7^000 tons of sublimed and stick 
sulphur. 

ALUMINA AND ALUMINUM SULPHATE. 

The Societe Anonyme D'Aluminium, at Selzaete, has introduced 
into Belgium the Peniakoff process for treating bauxite, and manu- 
factures on an extensive scale alumina, aluminum hydrate, sodium 
aluminate, and various salts of aluminum, especially the sulphate, 
as well as metallic aluminum. The firm employs 600 operatives 
and uses 70,000 tons of raw material annually. Bauxite comes from 
the Var deposits in France. The characteristic feature of the Penia- 
koff process is the use of sodium sulphate instead of carbonate for 
transforming the mineral into soluble sodium aluminate. A dis- 
tinct economy in cost of production is claimed for this method, and 
an excellent irrade of hydrate is produced. The residual solution, 
after the precipitation of aluminum hydrate with a current of carbon 
dioxide and filtration, is used to prepare caustic and sal soda. Penia- 



20 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM, 

ko£F has introduced into paper mills the use of a mixture of sodium 
aluminate and resin, instead of aluminum sulphate and resin soap. 
for the sizing operation. After this addition has been thoroughly 
incorporated sulphuric acid is added to bring about the formation 
of the sulphate. 

In this establishment aluminum sulphate is no longer made by the 
action of acid upon the hydrate, obtained as described above. 
Eoasted bauxite is now finely ground and introduced into cast-iron 
vessels lined v^ith lead and resistant brick. Here it is exposed to the 
action of the sulphuric acid (52° Baume), at 100° C, under a pres- 
sure of 4 atmospheres. The reaction lasts only a few minutes. 
Water is added to the product, and the solution of 30° Baume is 
allowed to settle for a few days. The clear liquid is drawn off, con- 
centrated to 42° Baume, and allowed to solidify in shallow vats. 
Mother liquors are removed by handling in a hydraulic press, under 
a pressure of 300 atmospheres. The white salt, as secured in this 
manner, contains less than 0.05 per cent of iron. It is supplied to 
paper mills in the form of blocks, and also ground to a powder. 
The residues in the clarifying vats are exhausted with boiling 
water, and the filtered solution is used for making potash alum. 

A complete removal of iron from the clarified solution is effected 
at no great expense. All iron present in solution is brought to the 
ferric condition by oxidation with a bleaching-powder solution. 
Precipitation in the form of Prussian blue is caused by the addition 
of exactly the requisite amount of ferrocyanide. The operation is 
one of extreme delicacy, as no excess of calcium hypochlorite or fer- 
rocyanide is permissible. Filtration is effected both by centrifugals 
and by the use of porous cylinders of magnesium silicate. Solutions 
of aluminum sulphate, purified in this manner, are evaporated to 52° 
Baume and allowed to solidify in lead pans. The trace of iron 
present is usually 0.0005 per cent. 

The factory for this special manufacture of sulphate, Avith its 
total equipment, including an engine of 30 horsepower, costs $22,000 
and treats 2.5 metric tons of bauxite daily. From this amount of 
raw material there is a daily production of 4.7 tons of aluminum sul- 
phate free from iron, 4.4 tons of sulphate containing 0.02 per cent 
of iron, and 0.86 ton of potash alum. The entire cost of production, 
including packing in casks, interest, amortization, etc., is as follows 
per metric ton: Aluminum sulphate, pure, $12.50; aluminum sul- 
phate, 0.02 per cent iron, $11.19; potash alum, free from iron, $19.28. 

The current wage rate is 60 cents per day. The cost of materials 
per metric ton is as follows: Coal, $2.38; bauxite, $7.62; sulphuric 
acid, 60° Baume, $4.28; bleaching powder, $47.60; potassium ferro- 
cyanide, $285 ; potassium sulphate, $38. The greater portion of the 
aluminum sulphate made in Belgium is exported. Great Britain, 
Scandinavia, South America, and the Orient are the chief purchasers. 

AliUM— PHOSPHORUS AND PHOSPHORIC ACID. 

The manufacture of potash alum, apart from its production in 
connection with aluminum sulphate, as noted above, is carried on in 
two factories. In one, at Ampsin, the local aluniferous schists are 
employed as raw material. The other, at Kuysbrock, uses alunite 
imported from Tolfa, Italy. The annual production reaches 1,800 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 21 

tons, and nearly all is exported. These factories find competition 
with English works increasingly difficult, and the}^ have to contend 
with the growing tendency to employ aluminum sulphate as a 
mordant. 

The factory at Selzaete produces regularly barium aluminate, 
aluminum chloride, and aluminum fluoride. In a factory at Baelen 
there is a somew^hat extensive manufacture of artificial cryolite, or 
opaline, and of hydrofluoric acid. The annual output of the latter 
is about 75 tons. 

A single factory, at Angre, is devoted to the production of phos- 
phorus in both modifications by the customary method of distilling 
phosphoric acid with carbon. A part is employed in preparing cop- 
per phosphide (about 25 tons annually) for use in making phosphor 
bronze. Most of the output is absorbed by the domestic match 
industry. There is a small export to the Orient. There are 4 fac- 
tories occupied with the production of phosphoric acid from low- 
grade domestic phosphatic rock. In 3 works the acid is used chiefly 
to manufacture double superphosphates. The annual production of 
the latter is about 15,000 tons. The best grades, containing 42 per 
cent to 50 per cent of P2O5, are largely m demand for export to dis- 
tant points in order to counterbalance high freight charges. About 
800 tons of citrate-soluble pliosphate are secured as a by-product. 
In one factor}^ alkaline phosphates are a specialty. The annual out- 
put of ammonium phosphate reaches 750 tons ; that of sodium phos- 
phate 3,000 tons. Two-thirds of the latter is exported to Germany 
for use in silk and cotton mills. 

PIGMENTS. 

The manufacture of white lead is well developed and centers about 
Courtrai. Of the 7 factories the largest, at Anderlecht, has a pro- 
ductive capacity equaling that of all its rivals combined. The indus- 
try occupies 400 workmen and utilizes 440 horsepower. The daily 
wage ranges from 50 to 70 cents. Much work is done by the piece. 
The Dutch method of manufacture is in general use. At Anderlecht 
a single carbonating compartment receives a charge of 35 tons of 
lead. There is a general use of modern equipment for preventing 
the respiration of particles of lead compounds by operatives at the 
different stages of manufacture. A large proportion of the product 
is ground with oil before entering into commerce. Very rigid regu- 
lations were issued in Belgium in 1910 with regard to the sale or 
transport of white lead in the dry form. Those using it in this con- 
dition must be specially licensed, and no one without a' license is per- 
mitted to purchase the article. The annual product is about 15,000 
tons, of which about one-half is exported. Canada and Argentina 
are important purchasers. The factories in question produce also 
about 1,500 tons of red lead, of Avhich one-half is exported to France, 
and a smaller amount of litharge for domestic use. 

The well-known company of La Vieille-Montagne conducts a finely 
equipped factory for the manufacture of zinc Avhite in connection 
with its large zinc works. About one-third of the product is ground 
with oil — with poppy oil for the finer grades and linseed oil for the 
cheaper grades. The annual production is about 10,000 tons. The 
major part is exported, largely to France and England. 



22 CHEMICAL Il^DUSTHlES OE BELGIUM. 

A large factory near Louvain manufactures annually about 16,000 
tons of lithopone, using German heavy spar and residues from the 
zinc works. About one-half of the output is exported, largely to 
Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. 

There are 3 factories occupied with the manufacture of ultramarine, 
giving occupation to 200 workmen and utilizing 310 horsepower. 
Use is made of German infusorial earth and English kaolin. Most 
of the soda required is also imported, as Leblanc soda is preferred in 
the Belgian works. About two-thirds of the annual production of 
2,000 tons finds a foreign market. Competition is keen between 
Belgian and German manufacturers of ultramarine. 

There are 11 establishments devoted to the production of ochers, 
rouge, etc. Most of the raw material is found in local deposits be- 
tween Liege and Namur and near Spa. A certain amount of ore is 
also brought from Spain and Sweden. About 600 tons of rouge and 
colcothar are manufactured annually from ferrous sulphate. The 
production of ochers and similar iron pigments reaches 6,000 tons. 
The bulk of these pigments is exported. There are also some 5 fac- 
tories that manufacture chrome colors, Schweinfurth green, and 
similar pigments, with an annual export of 1,200 tons. 

COMPRESSED GASES— BARIUM SULPHATE— BORAX. 

One firm at Brussels, employing 25 workmen, supplies electrolytic 
oxygen and hydrogen in steel flasks, under a pressure of 120 atmos- 
pheres. Another, near Liege, makes a specialty of liquid sulphur 
dioxide, furnishing 80 tons per annum. About one-half of this is 
exported. There is a growing tendency in Belgium to substitute the 
dioxide for sulphites and bisulphites in connection with bleaching 
and similar operations. Three factories manufacture liquid carbonic 
acid to the extent of 370 tons annually. In one factory the gas is 
obtained as a by-product of fermentation, in the others by the cal- 
cination of magnesite and limestone. The local production is insuffi- 
cient for the needs of the country, and over 900 tons annually are 
imported from Germany, where the gas is collected from natural 
sources. Anhydrous ammonia is manufactured by the Solvay com- 
pany and by a firm at Nimy. The annual output is 50 tons. 

There is an extensive deposit of barium sulphate at Faleurus, 
which furnishes material for three factories located in the vicinity. 
A fourth factory uses German spar. The extraction of mineral oc- 
cupies 180 workmen, and 85 more are engaged in the four factories 
in the washing, grinding, etc., of the material. The annual produc- 
tion of powdered sulphate is over 26,000 tons. About one-half is 
used in the country itself for the manufacture of lithopone, barium 
aluminate, etc., and for mixing with pigments, paper, caoutchouc, 
etc. The export goes largely to Great Britain. 

A single factory uses South American horo-natro-calcite as raw 
material, and produces annually 900 tons of borax and 60 tons of 
boric acid. 

WHITE ARSENIC— ZINC CHLORIDE— HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. 

Two factories connected with lead works are engaged in the pro- 
duction of arsenic trioxide from the residues obtained in treating 
lead ores. The annual output of 2,500 tons is sent for the most part 
to Germany (460 tons in 1911), Great Britain, and the United States. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTEIES OF BELGIUM. 



23 



There is a limited production of about 300 tons of zinc chloride 
annually in connection with the manufacture of zinc white. 

The production of hydrogen peroxide is effected in a factory at 
Ghent by the direct union of hydrogen and oxygen, according to the 
recent process of A. Hemptinne. A mixture of the two gases, con- 
taining 4 per cent of oxygen, yields the peroxide in large amount 
Avhen exposed to the action of the electric current. The process is 
one of promise on account of its simplicity as compared with the 
prevalent methods based upon the use of the peroxides of barium or 
sodium. It is to be noted, however, in this connection that German 
chemists are steadily perfecting processes for securing hydrogen 
peroxide by the continued electrolysis of sulphuric acid after its 
transformation into persulphuric acid, and also by the use of solid 
persulphates and of perborates. 

CEMENT. 

The manufacture of cement has rapidly developed of late years, so 
that now Belgium has become one of the leading factors in the inter- 
national trade in this article. Cement factories number 50, employ 
4,000 workmen, and utilize 7,700 horsepower. The annual product 
exceeds 750,000 tons. Belgium has become one of the leading factors 
in the international trade in this article. Belgium's net export was 
701,000 tons in 1910, as compared to 483,000 tons for Germany. 
There was even a net export of 88,000 tons to Germany. The rivalry 
of Belgian cement is felt by German producers in all foreign markets. 
The chief purchasers of cement in 1910 were as follows : 



Countries. 



Argentina 

Netherlands 

Germany 

United Kingdom 

Brazil 

Egypt.... 

France , 



Metric tons. 



145,000 
130,000 
88,000 
54,000 
51,000 
27,000 
25,000 



Countries. 



Spain 

Portugal 

Turkey 

United States . 

Chile 

Dutch colonies 



Metric tons. 



25,000 
18,000 
17,000 
15,000 
13,000 
10,000 



The average price was $4.75 per ton. The extent to which Belgium 
dominates the South American market is remarkable. A syndicate 
exists among the Belgian manufacturers of so-called natural cement, 
but it has been unable to maintain prices, and its continued existence 
is doubtful. 

MATCHES. 

The manufacture of matches forms an industry of considerable 
importance, contributing largely to international trade. There are 
13 factories, situated mostly in the neighborhood of Grammont. The 
largest factory, that of Caussemille, Roche & Co., at Ghent, has 700 
operatives. Nine factories make wooden matches only; the others 
include wax tapers. Russian aspen serves almost exclusively as raw 
material. The cost, delivered at factories, is $6.56 per cubic meter 
(35.3 cubic feet). Belgium is one of the countries where the manu- 
facture and use of matches made with white phosphorus is still per- 
mitted. The domestic use of such matches is, however, rapidly dimin- 
ishing. The exportation is still an important feature of trade. 



S4 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 

There are three distinct types manufactured at present: The old- 
fashioned sulphur match, with head of white phosphorus and sulphur ; 
the English match, with head of phosphorus, potassium chlorate, and 
paraffin ; and the modern safety or Swedish match. The production 
in 1908 was as follows: Sulphur matches, 11,520,000 boxes of 340 
matches each, valued at $106,000 ; English matches, 179,000,000 boxes 
of 55 matches, valued at $233,000 ; Swedish matches, 222.000,000 boxes 
of 55 matches, valued at $287,000; wax tapers, 5,000,000,000, valued 
at $154,000 ; total value, $780,000. 

The value of the product in 1911 was estimated at $1,250,000. The 
sulphur matches are for local consumption. Eighty per cent of the 
English matches are exported and 65 per cent of the Swedish. Nearly 
all of the tapers are shipped abroad, chiefly to Great Britain and 
Australia, the value of the exports in 1910 reaching $153,000. Great 
Britain purchased over one-half of the wooden matches exported. 
The other leading purchasers were France, Turkey, the United States 
($36,000), Egypt, India, Porto Rico, Spain, and the Netherlands. 
There is very keen competition in the foreign markets between the 
manufacturers of Belgium and those of Germany and Sweden. The 
latter country even exports to Belgium, the value of such exports in 
1910 being $67,000. The competition of Japanese wares in the Orient 
is also felt more and more each year. Eleven of the Belgian manu- 
facturers are united in a syndicate for the purpose of maintaining 
domestic and export prices. The capital of the syndicate is $1,350,000. 

GLASS. 

The glass industry is also one of international importance, and its 
development has meant much in the consumption of chemicals. Over 
31,000 operatives are employed in 69 factories, utilizing 25,000 horse- 
power. The chief expansion of late years has taken place in the man- 
ufacture of glassware for ornament and table use. The exports in 
1910 were as follows: Plate glass, 41,000 tons; window glass, 215,000 
tons ; bottles, 2,500 tons ; tableware, 30,500 tons ; miscellaneous, 3,700 
tons. The total output was valued at $16,300,000. The exports of 
plate glass exceed 90 per cent of the output, that of window glass 95 
per cent, and that of tableware 75 per cent. There is an annual 
import of 16,000 tons of bottles. 

The Belgian glass works use annually 1,200,000 tons of coal. They 
consume 17,000 tons of soda ash, 109 000 tons of sodium sulphate, 
116,000 tons of lime, and 344,000 tons of sand. Nearly all the sand 
used is of domestic origin. The choicest grade — that of Fontaine- 
bleau, containing 0.005 to 0.015 per cent of ferric oxide — costs 48 cents 
per ton at the pits. Campine sand, with 0.04 per cent FeoOg, costs 29 
cents and ordinary sand 19 cents. 

Nine of the leading plate-glass establishments in Belgium belong 
to the powerful international syndicate, the Convention Interna- 
tionale des Glaceries. The organization includes 15 other firms in 
France, Germany, and Italy. One-half of the world's output of plate 
glass is controlled by this syndicate. The Belgian works supply one- 
quarter of the world's demand. Only 10 per cent of this product is 
consumed at home. Despite the strong position of the Belgian in- 
dustry, American manufacturers are represented at Brussels and sell 
annually $15,000 to $20,000 worth of glassware. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF BELGIUM. 25 

PAPER— COAL, GAS AND BY-PRODUCTS. 

The paper industry is highly developed and is another leading 
consumer of chemical products. There are 21 mills producing finer 
grades, 9 mills devoted to wrapping paper, 12 to pasteboard, and 2 to 
imitation parchment. Wood pulp is manufactured in 3 additional 
factories.. The net import of wood pulp was 90,000 tons in 1910. The 
entire industry requires 6,000 operatives. The exports in 1910 reached 
$6,400,000, against imports of $2,500,000. The United Kingdom 
takes one-third of the Belgian export. The next most important pur- 
chasers, in order, are Japan, the Netherlands, Turkey, Argentina, 
Brazil, Australia, the United States, and France. 

The number of gas works in Belgium is 67, and the coal consumed 
annually exceeds 700,000 tons. Domestic coal from Mons constitutes 
30 per cent of this amount. Germany supplies 40 per cent to works 
in the east and France 22 per cent to those in the west. The re- 
mainder comes from England. The average cost, delivered, is $2.41 
per metric ton. The annual output of coke is 480,000 tons. Great 
care is taken in the Belgian works to utilize all by-products. In ad- 
dition to what they yield are the contributions from coke works, built 
for the recovery of tar, ammonia, etc. These latter produce annu- 
ally about 1,250,000 tons of coke. The Semet-Solvay type of coke 
oven is the predominant type. The Evence-Coppee and the Colin 
"systems are also used to some extent. 

Among the minor by-products are graphite, annual output 500 
tons; sodium ferrocyanide, 300 tons; ammonium sulpho-cyanide, 
2,000 tons. 

AMMONIA AND AMMONIUM SULPHATE. 

In several gas works the Solvay method for securing pure ammonia 
water is used, and the operations are carried on under the direction 
of the Solvay company with its special apparatus. The larger gas 
works manufacture ammonium sulphate directly. The annual out- 
put of sulphate from gas works exceeds 4,000 tons. From coke ovens 
there is an additional quantity of 10,700 tons, making a total of 
14,700 tons. This does not suffice to meet the demands of domestic 
agriculture, and there is a net import of 2,500 tons from Germany. 
The Belgian coke works are now tending to an increased production 
of sulphate by the direct method, the oven gases being in part 
brought immediately in contact with sulphuric acid. 

As now practiced the current of gas from the ovens is conducted 
through cooling columns, so that the temperature is lowered to 30°, 
and then through a Peiouze tar separator. This removes the heavier 
tar oils, such ammonium salts as NH4CL, most of the water, and 
with it 25 to 75 per cent of the free ammonia. The gas current, 
containing the remaining ammonia and the lighter hydrocarbons, is 
next heated to 60° C. and passed through an absorption apparatus 
containing sulphuric acid of 60° Baume. Solid ammonium sulphate 
separates out and is dried in a centrifugal. The benzine, etc., still 
remaining in the gas, is removed b}^ passing through condensing 
tubes. Ammonia water obtained in the coolers and tar separator 
must be subjected to distillation as formerly in order to secure the 
nmmonia, but as the amount of accompanyino- water is only one- 
fifth of that necessarily present when absorption is effected by means 



26 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 

of scrubbers, etc., there is a notable economy in the use of fuel for 
distillation and in the handling of residual waste water. 

In connection with the production of ammonia from the distilla- 
tion of coal, it is worthy of note that ammonia is secured in Belgium 
b}^ the method of J. Effront from schlempe or the residues of the 
beet-root sugar manufacture. The raw material is thoroughly dried 
and then distilled at 500° C. in a current of superheated steam. 
The addition of a certain amount of resinous matter facilitates the 
transformation of the nitrogenous compounds present into ammonia. 
Under the above conditions nearly all nitrogen in the residues is 
secured in the form of ammonia. Ordinarily distillation yields 
chiefly a mixture of organic amines. 

BELGIAN TAR l^ORKS— ANILINE DYES. 

The six tar works in Belgium are w^ell equipped and handle an- 
nually over 100,000 tons. A little less than half of this comes from 
abroad, chiefly from cities on the coast of the Baltic, the Atlantic, 
and even the Mediterranean. An additional factory is devoted to 
the refining of naphthalene and of anthracene. The annual output 
is as follows, in metric tons: Benzine, toluene, etc., 4,800; carbolic 
acid, 250; napthalene, crude, 9.000; heavy oils, 22,000; anthracene 
(35 per cent), 4,500; pitch, 62,000. 

About two-thirds of the naphthalene is refined. A large share of 
the anthracene is also refined to the 80 per cent grade. All of these 
products except pitch are exported in quantity. Much of the creo- 
sote oil goes to France. The United States purchases about 1,000 
tons annually of naphthalene. Pitch is imported in large amounts, 
Germany furnishing 38,000 tons. Its chief use is for manufacturing 
briquets of coal dust. The Societe Anonyme des Agglomeres Reunis 
du Bassin de Charleroi, with works at Marcinelle and Chatelinan, 
is the leading firm in the Belgian tar industry, in which over 600 
workmen are engaged. 

Little effort is made in Belgium to manufacture coal-tar colors and 
compete with the great works of France and Germany. Two small 
factories make quinoline yellow, various nigrosines, soluble blues, etc. 
The largest of these, at Hoeren, employs over 100 operatives, and 
exports annuall}^ in excess of 500 tons. The great mass of dyestuffs 
comes from Germany. In 1911 the purchases were : Analine dyes in 
general, 2,000 tons; alizarin, 92 tons. The annual consumption of 
German synthetic indigo is 700 tons. Belgimn conducts a large 
trade in dyes and coloring material, apart from her own important 
production of mineral pigments. In 1910 the total imports of colors 
and pigments, excluding indigo, amounted to $6,800,000, and the 
exports to $11,406,000. The sales of German indigo reached 4,665 
tons, of which nearly all was taken by China. 

^SVOOD DISTILLATION. 

Wood distillation is carried on extensively in Belgium, especially 
in the forest region along the French frontier. There are eight fac- 
tories employing 455 workmen, with a motive power of 530 horse- 
power. Beech and oak are the chief varieties of wood used. In 
one establishment spent quebracho chips form the raw material. 
About 50,000 tons of wood are subjected annually to distillation. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF BELGIUM. 27 

Vertical iron retorts, holding about 175 cubic feet, are ordinarily 
used for distilling hard woods. Quebracho chips are distilled from 
large revolving cylinders holding 1,000 cubic feet. Of the eight 
factories mentioned, four carry on the refining of the primary prod- 
ucts. The total annual value of the products reaches $750,000. 

The output of charcoal is 13,000 tons, of which about one-half 
is exported to France. Most of the wood alcohol is sold in a partly 
refined condition, for use in making varnish, for fuel purposes, and 
especially for denaturing ethyl alcohol. In 1910, 56,000 gallons of 
the impure alcohol were exported, chiefly to France. The average 
price was 57 cents per gallon. In the same year 69,000 gallons of 
refined methyl alcohol were imported, three-quarters coming from 
the United States. The average value was 66 cents per gallon. Tayo 
factories are now engaged in manufacturing formaldehyde, chiefly 
for domestic consumption. 

The annual output of calcium acetate is over 2,300 tons. In four 
factories acetic acid and acetone are manufactured from the domestic 
and also from imported acetate. Sodium acetate is now produced to 
quite an extent. The annual product reaches 2,000 tons. Acetic 
acid itself is manufactured chiefly by the Behrens method. The pro- 
duction of technical acid reaches 2,700 tons. About two-thirds of 
this is exported to Switzerland, England, and Japan. There is a 
further production of 600 tons of purified acid for table use, chiefly 
for domestic consumption. 

Acetone is manufactured in increased amounts and used for making 
chloroform and gelatinizing guncotton. Allylic alcohol is now iso- 
lated in technical amounts from the crude wood alcohol obtained by 
the distillation of quebracho chips. 

Acetic ether is manufactured to some extent by a factory for high 
explosives at Wetteren. It is used as a solvent for guncotton. The 
wood tar is often used as a fuel under the stills. In one factory 
beech-wood tar is rectified and creosote and gaiacol are isolated and 
refined. 

TANNING EXTRACTS— SAL.ICIN. 

The production of these extracts ha^ grown to be a branch of im- 
portance. Two factories, employing 150 operatives and using 600 
horsepower, furnish annually about 11,000 tons of extracts in the dry, 
paste, and liquid forms. About 8,000 tons of quebracho w^ood are 
imported from South America for this purpose. Chestnut from 
France and oak from France and Belgium itself are also used in 
quantity. The equipment of these factories is almost identical Avith 
that of the beet-root sugar factories. Extraction is effected by water 
and steam, under pressure, in diffusion batteries; concentration is 
carried on in evaporators with triple effect; and for the final evapora- 
tion, in the case of paste or dry extract, vacuum apparatus is em- 
ployed. About two-thirds of the production is exported. In 1911 
the net imports from Belgium into Germany reached 2,300 tons. 

The extraction of salicin, a glucoside, from the bark of the salex 
rubra is a specialty in Belgium, where the plant grows abundantly 
in the valley of the Scheldt. About 500 tons of bark are treated 
annually. In one factory the aqueous extract, concentrated to 25° 
Baume, is produced. In another factory the pure glucoside is ob- 
tained by the Crispo process. The entire output goes to England. 



28 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 

SULPHURIC ETHER— FUSEL, OIL— ARTIFICIAL SILK. 

The factory at Wetteren, mentioned, above, produces about 2,500 
tons of ether of a technical grade for use in manufacturing ex- 
plosives and in the making of artificial silk. There is a growing 
domestic demand for the solvent. 

The production of fusel oil in connection with the rectification of 
spirits is becoming more important. Exports in 1910 reached 75,000 
gallons. One-half went to the Netherlands and most of the re- 
mainder to the United States. The average price per gallon was 
$1.08. 

Two factories at Obourg and at Tubize have recently begun the 
manufacture of artificial silk by the Chardonnet process. They 
furnish large quantities to the textile works of Belgium. 

EXPLOSIVES. 

The manufacture and trade in explosives has attained an unusual 
development in Belgium, despite the absence of any extensive mili- 
tary or naval establishment. This is due partly to the mining inter- 
ests of the land and partly to the extensive trade in firearms. The 
manufacture of firearms became a pronounced specialty in and 
around Liege at an early date, and it has steadily grown of late 
years. The sale abroad of military rifles, revolvers, and more par- 
ticularly hunting guns, amounted in value to $4,750,000 in 1910. 
This trade to nearly every country on the globe has had its effect 
on the market for powder, cartridges, and explosives generally. 

There are at present 14 companies engaged in the different branches 
of the industry. They own 21 factories, employ TOO workmen, and 
utilize 900 horsepower. The annual output exceeds 3,500 tons. Over 
one-quarter of this is exported. 

GUNPOWDER. 

Gunpowder is made by 8 establishments, in one of which slow- 
burning powder alone is- produced. The annual output of the latter 
is 80 tons and of ordinary powder about 2,000 tons. About 200 tons 
is designed for hunting purposes and 700 tons for military use. The 
remainder is blasting powder. In 1910 there was a net export of 
572 tons, of which 373 tons went to the Kongo colony and the west 
coast of Africa. The use of ordinary black gunpowder in Belgium 
itself has fallen rapidly during the past 20 years. The mines now 
use increasingly large amounts of dynamite and of safety explo- 
sives. Smokeless gunpowder for military use has also become more 
general. A convention exists among the Belgian manufacturers to 
maintain prices. During the past few years much cheap German 
powder has entered Belgium. The import in 1910 reached 302 tons, 
with an average value of 15.8 cents per pound. 

Safety explosives, with a base of ammonium nitrate, are now made 
in 7 factories. The annual output is 500 tons and tends to increase. 
Ammonium nitrate for use in this branch is now manufactured in 
one factory by the Ostwald method, oxidation of ammonia being 
effected by means of catalytic agents. The annual export of safety 
explosives is about 100 tons. It is much restricted on account of the 
difficulty of securing transportation on seagoing vessels. Even on 
the inland waterways of Belgium shipments are not allowed. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 29 

CHEDDITE. 

Cheddite is now manufactured regularly in a factory at Molen- 
stede recently started by a branch of the French company control- 
ling the patents and the production of chlorates by the electrolytic 
method in Italy. The manipulation is exceedingly simple. Finely 
powdered dry potassium chlorate is gradually added to a solution of 
dinitrotoluene and nitronaphthalene in castor oil at 70° C. The 
mixture is kept in constant agitation while cooling and yields for 
the most part a fine-grained powder, which, after standing a few 
days, can be filled into cartridges. The latter are coated Avith par- 
affin. Sodium chlorate is used to some extent in place of the more 
expensive potassium salt. The current quality of the explosive costs 
13.2 cents per pound. This simplicity and ease of preparation, with 
its consequent cheapness, together with the good keeping qualities 
of cheddite, have rapidly won for it recognition and a growing 
market. 

SMOKELESS POAVDER AND DYNAMITE. 

Smokeless powder is manufactured to the extent of about 200 tons. 
Two firms are engaged in producing this article. A specialty of one 
firm is tonite, consisting of 4 per cent barium nitrate, 42 per cent 
saltpeter, and 54 per cent guncotton ; it is employed chiefly for blast- 
ing purposes. The annual output of tonite is 15 tons and of the or- 
dinary smokeless powder 200 tons. The total amount of guncotton 
produced annually in the tv/o factories is given at 225 tons. Eight 
tons find use in the form of collodion. 

The factories manufacturing dynamite are 3 in number, and the 
annual production has reached 750 tons. Their capacity is double 
this amount and in the course of a few years will be attained, as the 
quantity used in mining increases rapidly. Much of the refined 
glycerin used in the works is brought from abroad. A large share 
of the product is gelatinized. The normal mixture for gelatiniza- 
tion is 93.5 parts nitroglycerin to 6.5 parts guncotton. Belgium 
imports about 100 tons of dynamite from Germany and exports about 
300 tons to Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, and South America. 

FIXED AMMUNITION, DETONATORS, ETC. 

Closely allied to the production of explosives is the manufacture 
of fixed ammunition, detonators, fuses, etc. The cartridge industry, 
like that of firearms, is largely concentrated about Liege, where 5 
factories give employment to 1,700 operatives. About 150,000,000 
cartridges annually are filled, the value exceeding $2,500,000. The 
value of the exports is $1,930,000. They are shipped to every part of 
the globe. Seventy tons were imported into Germany from Belgium 
in 1911, as compared with 13 tons from the United States. 

Fuses are made in four factories. The annual output exceeds 
92,000,000 feet, valued at $164,000. Germany purchased 84 tons of 
Belgian fuses in 1911. Detonators are made in one factory, which 
produces annually about 20,000,000, valued at $87,000. Four-fifths 
of this amount is exported. Percussion caps are manufactured in 2 
factories, the annual output being valued at $23,000. Fireworks are 



30 C-HEMICAL INDUSTEIES OF BELGIUM. 

made in several establishments near the large cities; the output is 
mostly for the home market. The total annual production is worth 
$60,000. 

STARCH— GLUE AND GELATIN. 

The starch industry is highly developed in Belgium. The chief raw 
material is rice. The factory at Wygmael.is claimed to be the largest 
in the world. The exports for 1910 — 12,560 tons — went to nearly 
all countries. Great Britain took over half, and Switzerland, Brazil, 
Egypt, Denmark, South Africa, Argentina, and Uruguay were all 
large purchasers. The export is offset to some extent by an import 
of 4,880 tons, of which half was cornstarch from the United States 
and the remainder potato starch from the Netherlands and France. 

The manufacture of glue and gelatin is important. The 8 facto- 
ries employ 400 workmen and utilize 250 horsepower. The 3 largest 
factories produce together 9 tons of glue and gelatine daily. The 
firm of Duche, at Point-Brule, has branches in other countries. The 
bulk of the output is used in the domestic textile and paper indus- 
tries. There is a net export of over 3,000 tons of glue, the greater 
part of which goes to Great Britain. 

OILS AND FATS. 

The country consumed in 1910, 150,000 tons of refined petroleum, 
of which 60 per cent came from the United States. The remainder 
was contributed by Roumania, Galicia, and the Caucasus. There is 
1 petroleum refinery in Belgium, but the business of refining has 
largely ceased, and the import of crude petroleum is insignificant. 
Two factories handle heavy oils and 4 make a specialty of mineral 
lubricating oils. The annual product is 10,000 tons, of which 70 per 
cent is exported. A considerable amount of vaseline also is isolated 
in these works. 

Animal fats are employed chiefly in the production of oleomarga- 
rin and margarin. Their import reaches 2,000 tons. There is like- 
wise a net import of oleomargarin and similar products amount- 
ing to 1,300 tons. 

About 5,000 tons of resin are distilled annually in some 10 estab- 
lishments. The product of nearly 4,000 tons is exported largely for 
use as a lubricant. Most of the resin comes from the United States. 
A small portion is contributed by France. 

VEGETABLE OILS. 

The manufacture of vegetable oils is very important, as there are 
no less than 160 oil mills. Belgium itself furnishes a large amount 
of linseed and rapeseed, but the bulk of the oleaginous seeds is im- 
ported. In 1910 the net imports were as follows, in metric tons: 
Castor-oil bean, 10,240; cotton seed, 990; linseed, 70,600; peanuts, 
8,100; poppy seed, 3,800; rapeseed, 47,000; sesame, 1,600; divers, 
32,000 ; copra, 19,700 ; palm nuts,^ 7,400. 

Rapeseed oil is manufactured in 30 mills, several of which refine 
crude imported oil. The annual output exceeds 20,000 tons. Some 
is exported, chiefly to Great Britain. The demand for this oil as 
an illuminant in mii\es is steadily increasing. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 31 

Coconut butter is refined in two factories. One-half of the annual 
product of 3,000 tons is shipped to Germany. Several factories have 
been started for the manufacture of corn oil. Belgium purchases 
corn largely from Argentina. 

The annual output of oil cake is estimated at 84.000 tons, all of 
which is absorbed by the agricultural interests of the land. There 
is further a net import of 175,000 tons of oil cake, consisting chiefly 
of cottonseed meal from the United States. 

In 1910 the net imports of vegetable oils Avere as follows, in metric 
tons: Corn oil, 720; cottonseed oil, 3,050; olive oil, 2,060; palm oil, 
11,200; poppy oil, 900; divers, 6,200. The net exports in the same 
year were as follows: Castor oil, 3,580; coconut oil, 3,700; linseed 
oil, 9,800; peanut oil, 250; rapeseed oil, 460; sesame oil, 730. 

MARGARIN CANDLES SOAP. 

The production of margarin and other artificial butters has be- 
come an important industry of late years. There are now 16 factories, 
of which three are devoted to the manufacture of oleomargarine. 
In 1910 the 13 other factories produced 10,074 tons, of which 9,583 
tons were classified strictly as margarin. The materials used were 
as follows, in metric tons: Oleomargarin, 3,071 other fats, 1,641; 
pure butter, 50 ; milk, 5,325 ; cottonseed oil, 2,648 ; peanut oil, 181 ; 
sesame oil, 501 ; other oil, 536. There was a small export of 533 
tons and an import of 13 tons. 

The stearin industry of Belgium has reached a high state of per- 
fection, and its products are well known in most countries. There 
are 4 factories. The most important, the Manufacture Royale, at 
Brussels, employs 380 operatiA^es and uses 10,000 tons of raw material 
annually. The output includes 5,000 tons of stearin, 2,000 tons of 
candles, 3,000 tons of olein, and 400 tons of glycerin. Glycerin is 
refined here and in the other works, a certain amount of crude gly- 
cerin, also, being imported for the purpose. Belgium exports about 
70 per cent of the total output of candles. In 1910 the shipments 
reached 4,250 tons. Argentine, India, and Turkey were the chief 
purchasers, but sales were made to nearly ev^ry country. There is 
an annual import of 7,000 tons of stearin, 2,500 tons of olein, and 800 
tons of refined glycerin. 

The soap industry is relatively less developed. There are 12 fac- 
tories producing hard soaps, and there is an increasing A^ariety of 
toilet soaps. The total annual output is estimated at 5,000 tons. In 
4 other establishments soap poAvder is produced to the extent of 
2.000 tons. Soft soap is made in a number of small Avorks. Domestic 
consumption is, hoAvcA^er, in excess of the supply. In 1910 there were 
net imports of 407 tons of toilet soap — chiefly from Great Britain, 
Germany, and France — 143 tons of other hard soap, and 60 tons of 
soft soap. 

Mention should be made in this connection of a factory recently 
started at Verviers for extracting avooI grease by the American 
method of treating wool Avith benzine. The annual output of lano- 
lin exceeds 1,000 tons. Much of this is exported to the United 
States. The value of such exports was $63,000 in 1910 and $43,000 
in 1911. 



32 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 

The firm of A. van de Kerckhove, in Brussels, has an internationEiI 
reputation for its manufacture of neat's-foot oil, highly valued as a 
lubricant for machines of precision. It employs 90 operatives and 
prepares a variety of oils from the hoofs and bones of different 
animals. 

VARNISHES— PERFUMES— PHARMACEUTICAL, PRODUCTS. 

There is a moderate production of varnish, chiefly by firms engaged 
in the manufacture of lubricants or of colors. It is thus far inade- 
quate for domestic needs, and in 1910 net imports reached 933 tons, 
with an average value per ton of $347. Great Britain supplies about 
one-half of the import; the remainder comes from France, Holland, 
Germany, and the United States. The value of the imports from 
America was $40,000. 

The manufacture of perfumes and cosmetics is still in its infancy 
in Belgium, although much is done to meet the domestic demand. 
As in the case of toilet soaps there is a large import, two-thirds of 
which is supplied by France. This import in 1910 reached 312 tons, 
with a value of $463,000. There was a small export of 21 tons. 

There are five establishments in Belgium engaged in the manufac- 
ture of pharmaceutical products and pure chemicals. Their opera- 
tives number 150. Thus far they furnish only a small part of the 
domestic consumption. The Belgian pharmacies all display a great 
variety of products coming from France, England, Germany, and 
the United States.^ In 1911 the imports of pharmaceutical prepara- 
tions from America alone amounted to 38 tons. 

SUGAR— COAL,. 

The manufacture of beet- root sugar is very important in Belgium, 
and is of special interest to the chemist on account of the current 
methods of utilizing the residues for the production of ammonia and 
the cyanides. There are at present 92 sugar factories and 22 large 
refineries. In 1910 these factories produced 271,300 tons of sugar, 
of which 108,000 tons were partly refined. The refineries handle 
112,000 tons of raw sugar. There was an import of 9,300 tons of raw 
sugar and 660 tons of refined. The exports included 38,000 tons of 
raw sugar and 82,000 tons of refined sugar. The excise duties on 
sugar brought in a revenue of $3,675,000. The output of glucose 
amounted to 10,416 tons. 

As already noted, the coal deposits of Belgium are relatively of 
great extent. In 1909 there were 96,616 miners and 6,600 boys em- 
ployed in the mines. Employees above ground numbered 39,000, 
including 8,200 women and girls. The average annual wage for the 
entire force was $250.12. The output of the 130 mines now in 
active operation reached 23,518,000 tons, and the average value per 
ton was $2.77. In 1910 there was a net import of 1,473,800 tons of 
coal from adjacent countries. This was offset to some extent by net 
exports of 545,500 tons of coke and 268,000 tons of briquets. 

METALLURGY. 

The native ores of Belgium are being rapidly exhausted and the 
country is depending now very largely on foreign sources to supply 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF BELGIUM. 



33 



its numerous furnaces. In 1860 there were 11,100 miners engaged in 
the extraction of ore. Now the number has sunk to 700. This dimi- 
nution is due in many cases to the exhaustion of the deposits; in 
others to the increased difficulty and cost of extraction. The follow- 
ing table shows the production in tons in 1909, as compared with 
maximum yields in earlier years : 



Ores. 


1909 


Maximum 
yields. 


Ores. 


1909 


Maximimi 

yields. 


Iron, ore 


200,000 

6,270 

214 


800,000(1860) 
22,000(1895) 
42,000(1860) 


Calamine 




62,000(1850) 


Iron ore, manganiferous . 


Zinc blende 


1,230 
152 


23,000(1880) 
13,000(1870) 


Pyrites 


Galena 







Despite this enormous shrinkage in the domestic ore supply, the 
metallurgical interests continue to expand. They constitute a lead- 
ing factor in the economic fabric of the Kingdom, and naturally 
exert a marked influence in favoring the development of its chemical 
industries. 

Iron and steel are the most important products. The 38 blast 
furnaces, employing 3,874 workmen, turned out 1,616,000 tons of 
pig iron in 1909. Of the ores used, only 6 per cent came from Bel- 
gian mines. The near-by mines of France contributed 60 per cent, 
and Luxemburg 32 per cent. The remainder came from Germany, 
Algeria, Norway, Great Britain, Sweden, and Portugal. Imports 
of pig iron are also growing rapidly. They increased from 384,000 
tons in 1908 to 672,000 in 1910. 

In the rolling mills there are 162 puddling furnaces and 9,800 
workmen are employed. The output in 1909 was 485,000 tons, of 
which 317,000 tons were in a shaped form. Steel works number 22 
and employ 16,000 workmen. They contain 68 Bessemer converters 
and 25 Martin and other furnaces. The production in 1909 was as 
follows : Cast steel, 1,580,000 tons ; blooms, billets, etc., 866,000 tons ; 
finished steel, 1,265,000 tons. Much of the output is utilized in the 
vast machine works of Belgium, and there is a heavy export of 
structural iron and steel, rails, boiler plate, nails, etc. 

The zinc industry is also a valuable feature, as one-quarter of 
the world's production of this metal is supplied by Belgium. There 
are 492 furnaces in the 13 large works, and employment is given to 
7,400 operatives. In 1909 the output of metallic zinc reached 174,000 
tons. The ores came largely from Italy, Sardinia, Spain, Portugal, 
and Algeria. The direct import of American ore has ceased of late . 
years, although zinc dross of American origin is still received. The 
net export of zinc from Belgium in 1910 was 140,000 tons. 

The lead works number 5, contain 32 furnaces, and give employ- 
ment to 1,860 operatives. Some ore is brought from Australia and 
France. Refuse from zinc works is a leading raw material. Slags 
and impure metal from Spain, Australia, and Mexico also come to 
the Belgian works. In 1909 they produced 40,000 tons of refined 
lead and 271 tons of silver. 

Belgium still depends largely on other countries for a supply of 
aluminum. The net import in 1910 reached 525 tons. Copper like- 
wise comes entirely from abroad, chiefly from the United States, 
65401"— 12 3 



'34 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 



the average annual consumption being over 6,000 tons. Belgium. 
is now beginning to receive consignments of raw copper from the 
Katanga mines in the Kongo colony. The control of this source of 
the metal may have a material influence in developing those branches 
which are large consumers of copper. 

TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES. 

Inasmuch as Belgium becomes each year more of a distributing 
point for the world's wares, it is not easy to measure exactly the 
volume of its trade in chemical products that are purely domestic 
products on the one hand, or, on the other, are destined for domestic 
consumption. The available statistics reveal a somewhat extensive 
movement in both directions between the United States and Belgium. 
In 1910 the American exports to Belgium included the following: 



Articles. 



Animal fats 

Blacking 

Bones 

Chemicals: 

Calcium acetate 

Dyes and dyestufis 

Patent m.edicines 

Wood alcohol 

Miscellaneous chemicals 

Copper 

Fertilizers: 

Raw phosphates 

Thomas meal 

Glucose and grape sugar 

Glue 

Graphite: 

Crude 

Manufactured 

Grease and soap stock 

Isinglass 

Lead 

Liaseed 

Naval stores: 

Rosin 

Turpentine 

Tar and pitch 



Value. 



$1, 



230,000 
6.000 
12,000 

611.000 
44,000 
32,000 
43,000 
40,000 

886,000 

448,000 

13,000 

33,000 

2,000 

41,000 

4,000 

384,000 

5,000 

3,000 

14,000 

717,000 

,181,000 

6,000 



Articles. 



Nickel 

Oilcake 

Oils: 

Animal 

Petroleum 

Vegetable- 
Corn 

Cottonseed... 

Other 

Paints and pigments: 

Lampblack 

Zinc white 

Other 

Paraffin 

Paper stock 

Perfumery 

Soap: 

Toilet 

Other 

Spermaceti 

Starch 

Varnish 

Wax 

Wood pulp 

Zinc dross 



Value. 



$168,000 
4,463,000 

135,000 
3,444,000 

9,000 

105,000 

3,000 

10,000 

19, 000 

21,000 

• 233,000 

185,000 

3,000 

5,000 

2,000 

4,000 

54,000 

20,000 

3,000 

78,000 

25,000 



In this outward movement there is to be noted a decided growth 
of late years in the export of paper stock and Thomas meal, a still 
more marked increase in the case of rosin and starch, and an excep- 
tionally large growth in the sates of paraffin and of copper. On the 
contrary a noticeable decrease is observable in the exports of miscel- 
laneous drugs, wood pulp, petroleum, and such metals as aluminum, 
lead, nickel, and zinc. It is very marked in the case of cottonseed 
oil and wax, and still more pronounced in the movement of corn oil 
and linseed. A somewhat important export of copper sulphate has 
now totally ceased. 



CHEMICAL IXDUSTEIES OF BELGIUM. 



35 



EXPORTS TO AMERICA. 



The declared exports from Belgium to the United States m 1911, 
according to consular invoices, included the following : 



Articles. 



Acids 

Aluminum 

Aniline colors 

Antimony and products. 

Arsenic 

Artificial silk 

Barium sulphate 

Basic slag 

Beeswax 

Bones 

Candles 

Cement 

Chemicals, miscellaneous 

Colors 

Creosote oil 

Fertilizers 

Gelatin 

Glue and glue stock 

Glycerin 

Grease 



Value . 



Articles. 



SIO, 000 

23, .:oo 

140,000 

59,000 

18,400 

242,000 

5,800 

19,000 

2,000 

30, 500 

2,400 

6,600 

250, 000 

31, 000 

76,000 

680,000 

1,800 

181,000 

377,000 

1,600 



Gum copal 

Gunpowder 

Lithopone 

Linseed 

Matches 

Naphthalene . . 

Oils: 

Animal 

Mineral 

Vegetable . . 
Lubricating 

Olein 

Ores 

Paper stock 

Paraffin 

Pitch 

Seeds 

Stearin 

Wool grease.,.. 



Value. 



$34, 000 

4,800 

25,200 

693,000 
15, 800 
34, 700 

2,600 

36,300 

528,000 

12, 000 

5,000 

4,500 

531,000 

70,000 

2,600 

200.000 

3,000 

43,000 



American statistics for 1910 furnish fuller details on the various 
chemicals imported from Belgium. They embrace the following: 



Articles. 


Value. 


Articles. 


Value. 


Aniline salts 


$13,000 

14.000 

7,000 

64,000 
4.nnn 


Gambler 


S6, 000 


Arsenic 


' Gelatin 


2.000 


Bleaching powder 


Gums 


27.000 


Coal tar: 


Indigo 


20, 000 


Colors 


Potash: 

Caustic 




Preparations 


18,000 


Products, miscellaneous. 34,000 


1 Carbonate 


61,000 


Collodion 1.000 


Quebracho extract 


59, 000 


Creosote oil fi!onn 


' Sodium salts 


15,000 


Fusel oil 


33,000 


Miscellaneous chemicals 


132,000 









Belgium statistics of exports to the United States for the calendar 
year 1910 give the following values for certain items: Cement, 
176.000; chemicals, miscellaneous, $620,000; drugs, miscellaneous, 
$350,000; paints and colors, ^289,000; soap, $2,000. 

American imports of chemicals and allied products from Belgium 
show rather marked fluctuations of late years for 'i number of articles. 
An increased import is noticed in the case of miscellaneous chemicals, 
Thomas meal, superphosphate and other fertilizers, glue, lubricating 
oil, perfumery, and soap. It is still more noticeable in the figures for 
aniline colors, miscellaneous drugs, gum copal, gunpowder, linseed, 
olein, and vegetable oils, and very pronounced in the case of colors, 
creosote oil, glycerin, lithopone, nickel, and seeds. Imports of aniline 
salts and cement are lessening. The decrease is pronounced in the 
case of bones, miscellaneous chemicals, indigo, and wool grease, and 
very pronounced for barium sulphate, gelatin, grease, matches, ores, 
pitch, and starch. 



36 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 

AMERICAN EXPORTS TO BELGIUM. 

The United States is exporting an enormous amount of crude cal- 
cium acetate, produced by the distillation of American wood. The 
value in 1910 was $611,000. It would appear that the manufacture 
from this material of acetone, the acetates, and possibly acetic acid 
to some extent could advantageously be carried on at home and the 
resultant products, even if liquid, be shipped to the foreign markets. 
Considerable graphite is exported in the raw state, but the ship- 
ments in a manufactured form are quite unimportant. Again, great 
quantities of soap stock are sent to Belgium (value in 1910, $384,000), 
while an increasingly large amount of glycerin is received from Bel- 
gian ports. This movement is an unnatural one. 

In the matter of zinc compounds, lithopone, zinc white, etc., Ameri- 
can manufacturers having the raw material directly at hand should be 
able to compete easily with Belgium, now forced to import her zinc 
ores. It would appear also as if more of an effort should be made to 
furnish zinc ore for the Belgian furnaces, as was largely the case in 
the past. At present America ship thither a comparatively small 
amount of zinc dross. Practically the entire shipments of American 
zinc ore, exceeding $500,000 in value, go to the Netherlands. 

The most striking anomaly in this connection is offered by the fer- 
tilizer trade. In 1910 the United States shipped to Belgium nearly 
66,000 tons of raw phosphate rock, valued at $447,000. In the same 
year manufactured fertilizers, chiefly superphosphate, valued at 
$467,000, were purchased from Belgium. With the vast deposits of 
Louisiana sulphur located so near the leading sources of phosphate 
rock in the United States, it should be possible to transform raw 
phosphates into superphosphate at rates very decidedly below the cost 
of production in Belgium plus the cost of freighting twice across the 
Atlantic. 

The exchanges with Belgium represent, in fact, America's general 
position in the world's fertilizer trade. American shipments of raw 
phosphates in 1910 had a total value of $7,455,000. At the same time 
the total imports of fertilizers, excluding guano and crude phosphates, 
were valued at $7,373,000. Germany furnished 63 per cent of this 
quantity, which comprised nearly equal parts of superphosphate, 
Thomas meal, and bone meal. There is certainly an extensive field 
here, worthy of careful attention by those interested in the develop- 
ment of the manufacture of fertilizers on American soil. The do- 
mestic supply of sulphur in the free and the combined form is now 
so ample that it should no longer be economically profitable to send 
native rock over to Europe to be treated with Belgian or German 
sulphuric acid. The advantage possessed by the European manu- 
facturer in a relatively low wage rate is becoming constantly less, 
especially since the introduction of such a variety of labor-saving 
devices for handling vast masses of finished fertilizers. 

The question naturally arises, is it not possible to profit by the 
example of Belgium, and not only manufacture the entire domestic 
supply of superphosphate, but also invade more boldly the world's 
markets for this necessity of modern agriculture? Belgium depends 
largely upon foreign sources for raw phosphate, and almost entirely 
upon other countries for the sulphur required to make sulphuric acid. 
The cost of the latter as a by-product of metallurgical processes is, it 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF BELGIUM. 37 

is true, often exceedingly low, but making all allowances for cheap 
sulphuric acid and cheap labor, there is still a wide margin in favor 
of the United States with its abundant supplies of raw material. 

A still more remarkable exhibit of industrial and commercial ag- 
gressiveness is offered by the exj)orts of cement from Belgium. The 
net exports of cement, after deducting imports, in 1910, had a value of 
$3,330,000. In the same year the net exports of cement from the 
United States amounted to $1,460,000, most of which went to Canada 
and Cuba. The enterprise shown by Belgian manufacturers in con- 
trolling so largely the international market in this article is worthy 
of the most careful study, and of imitation. 

In the potash industry it is well to note the extreme care now taken 
in Belgium to rescue the potassium compounds from suint and from 
beet-sugar ash. Both of these sources deserve thorough attention 
in countries producing or treating wool on a large scale or cultivating 
the sugar beet. 

Belgium now exports matches to the United States to some extent — ■ 
$16,000 in 1911. This export is diminishing of late years, and it 
would seem that the American match industrj^ is now easily able to 
meet competition from this direction. 

There are a few classes of chemical products the market for which 
in Belgium is worthy of close study by American manufacturers. 
Belgium is still largely dependent upon other countries for her sup- 
ply of varnishes, the net imports in 1910 reaching 933 tons. American 
exports of varnish to Belgium amounted to $20,000 in that year. In 
1906 they were $61,000. It is a field in which more effort should be 
exerted. Belgium purchases from abroad relatively large quantities 
of perfumes, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical preparations. In all of 
these branches there is an opportunity for increased effort by Ameri- 
can exporters. American medicines are already appreciated, but 
more could be done in effecting sales by catering closely to the local 
demand. There is further an opportunity for Louisiana sulphur to 
compete with the Italian product in meeting the Belgian demand. 

In general, Belgium may be regarded from the standpoint of the 
technical chemist as offering a most instructive example of what can 
be done in a small country in the healthy development of a large 
group of closely allied industries. All of the chemical branches 
dependent to a greater or less extent upon the natural products of 
the land have been brought to a high state of perfection. In addi- 
tion, numerous chemical industries utilizing raw materials of for- 
eign origin have been called into existence. In various directions the 
ability to capture foreign markets for different chemical products has 
been revealed in an astonishing degree. 



NETHERLANDS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The dominant note in the evohition of the Netherlands has been 
essentially commercial. Its manufacturing interests in most branches 
have been dependent largely upon raw material brought from other 
legions. The low, flat land, often rescued at great cost from the 
ocesin, is admirably adapted for pastoral and agricultural purposes, 
but covers scarcely any mineral wealth. Conditions have been ex- 
ceedingly unfavorable for the development of chemical industries, 
almost as much so as in Denmark, a country closely resembling the 
Netherlands in many respects. 

Geographically the Netherlands are admirably situated for the 
exchange of commercial products by rail, river, and sea. There is an 
exceptionally high degree of thrift, intelligence^ and enterprise, and 
ior nearly a century the people have been free from war or military 
burdens. In addition the extensive colonial dependencies, Java, 
Sumatra, Guiana, etc., have contributed much to the national wealth. 
All of these favoring factors have failed to overcome, in any con- 
spicuous degree, the handicap which the Netherlands suffer in the 
lack of mineral wealth, especially of cheap coal ; and yet despite this 
handicap, in a few chemical industries the land has been able to meet 
the competition of more favored countries, such as its immediate 
neighbors, Germany, Belgium, France^ and Great Britain. There is 
further a marked tendency to enlarge the field of chemical industry 
and to free the country from dependence upon foreign sources of 
supply. The Dutch Government does all in its power to encourage 
this tendency. 

For the time being the Netherlands are more conspicuous as con- 
sumers than as producers of chemical products. The country is also 
an important center for the distribution of such wares. The wide- 
spread commercial relations with the shores of the Baltic and the 
Mediterranean, and with the Far East, established long before the 
era of steam, are still actively maintained, and are extended to most 
other regions. As a result the leading Dutch ports — Amsterdam and 
Rotterdam — rank high among distributing points. They are worth}^ 
of careful study by all manufacturers seeking to enlarge the area of 
their trade. 

The import and export statistics of the Netherlands reflect strongly 
the effect of this commercial movement, comparable in many ways 
with that of Hamburg, London, Liverpool, Marseille, and other 
clearing houses of the world's trade. It is therefore not easy to 
obtain from the statistical data of the Kingdom an exact measure of 
the consumption of chemical wares of foreign origin and the exports 
of goods produced in the country. 
38 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OP NETHERLANDS. 39 

HE3AVY CHEMICALS. 

In the production of the leading acids, bases, and salts the Nether- 
lands are far behind the neighboring countries. The modern organi- 
zation of these industries on a vast scale in adjacent countries rich in 
mineral wealth has rendered competition exceedingly difficult. 

SULPHURIC, NITRIC, AND HYDROCHLORIC ACIDS. 

On account of the cost of transportation conditions favor to some 
extent the localization of the sulphuric-acid industry. The manu- 
facture was established in Amsterdam in 1849 by G. F. Ketjen & Co., 
and has steadily developed since then. Until recently nothing has 
been done to do more than supply the domestic demand. Now there 
is a growing export to the Dutch colonies and Scandinavia. The firm 
has two separate factories. In one, sulphuric acid is manufactured 
by the chamber process. In the other there is a complete plant for 
producing fuming acid by the contact process. Ketjen & Co. were, 
in fact, one of the earlier firm.s to introduce the method and make it 
a technical success. There is a small factory connected with zinc 
works at Budai, using the chamber process. The superphosphate 
works likewise produce the acid needed in their manufacture. Span- 
ish pyrites is used chiefly as raw material, and the importation, 
serves as an indication of the growth of the industry. The quantity 
has more than doubled since 1895. The Netherlands aie a good 
market for German sulphuric acid, the most important after Austria- 
Hungary. The importation from this source amounted in 1911 to 
12,200 metric tons. Much of this was undoubtedly sold to other coun- 
tries. Ketjen & Co. carry on successfully the extraction of ammonia 
from the sewage of Amsterdam, making use of the Liermur process. 
This is one of the few instances outside of Paris and some other 
French cities where the process is made remunerative. 

There is a small factory at Niewer-Amstel that furnishes much of 
the nitric acid used in the Kingdom. The consumption is not large, 
on account of the limited extent of the industries producing high 
explosives and coal-tar colors. Hydrochloric acid is imported chiefly 
from Germany, which supplied 2,560 metric tons in 1911. 

SODA— POTASH— SALT— SULPHUR. 

Fifty years ago the Netherlands possessed soda works that did 
much to cover the home demand. With the advent of the Solvay 
process these concerns found it impossible to continue in existence. 
The five small factories now in operation limit their activity to 
transforming soda ash into purified soda crystals, and supply ex- 
clusively the domestic trade. In 1911, the Netherlands consumed 
32,200 metric tons of soda, supplied largely by Belgium, Germany, 
and the United Kingdom. The German contribution was 5.500 tons. 
The absence of an organized soda industry causes Holland to depend 
upon foreign sources not only for hydrochloric acid, but also for 
bleaching powder and Glauber's salt. The former is secured chiefly 
from British works, the latter from Germany, which furnished 6,800 
tons in 1911. 



40 CHEMICAL IXDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 

There are no native sources, and the entire consumption is supplied 
from abroad. In 1911, Germany shipped to the Netherlands 5,200 
metric tons of caustic potash, and 530 tons of the carbonate. 

The country is entirely dependent upon foreign sources for salt 
and sulphur. With the exception of a small amount recovered from 
gas works, crude sulphur is supplied from Italy. The annual con- 
sumption is about 550 tons. There is also an annual consumption of 
about 1,000 tons of refined sulphur, furnished largely by France. 
Crude salt comes chiefly from Portugal, with small contingents from 
Great Britain and Germany. Salt refining is carried on in 35 
establishments, employing 500 workmen. The equipment is modern ; 
in fact the first factory effecting the evaporation of saline solutions 
on the principle of double effect was organized in the Netherlands. 
There is an annual consumption of 32,000 metric tons for salting 
fish, and 1,160 tons for cattle and as fertilizer. Chemical works re- 
quire 8,000 tons, and other industries 1,720 tons. The per capita 
consumption is 23 pounds. The Netherlands still retain the ancient 
custom of laying an excise tax on salt for table use. It is not so high 
as in Italy, amounting to $12.06 per metric ton. As the annual con- 
sumption of fine salt is slightly over 60,000 tons, it furnishes an 
important item of revenue. 

CEMENT— MAGNESIA— THORIUM SAI.TS. 

There is no manufacture of cement in the country, but there is a 
large and growing consumption. In 1911 it reached 277,000 metric 
tons. Germany was the chief source, furnishing 120,000 tons, and 
Belgium occupied the second place. Germany exported, in addi- 
tion, 36,000 tons to the Dutch colonies. 

A somewhat specialized industry has been developed in connec- 
tion with the production of magnesia. The raw material, a very 
pure magnesite, is brought from the extensive deposits at Euboea, 
in Greece. A portion is used in the production of magnesia alba 
for pharmaceutical purposes, but the bulk is so burned that the 
carbon dioxide can be collected and compressed to the liquid form. 
SchmatoUa's gas furnace has been found to render good service for 
this operation, especially when officinal magnesia usta is prepared. 
Much of the residual magnesia is used in the country itself, for the 
manufacture of refractory brick and artificial millstones, but there 
is quite an export to other countries, including the United States. 
The magnesia alba and magnesia usta are exported almost entirely, 
over 80 per cent being purchased by Germany and Great Britain. 
The three leading factories are at Amsterdam, Kampen, and Zoeter- 
woude. 

There is a small factory at Katwijk engaged in the manufacture of 
thorium nitrate from monazite. The product is used entirely in the 
country itself for the preparation of incandescent mantles. There 
are four establishments engaged in this latter branch, the leading 
ones being at Amsterdam and Rotterdam. 

FERTILIZERS. 

In a country where so much of the land available for agricultural 
purposes has been won at such a cost from the domain of the ocean 
it can readily be imagined that great pains are taken to attain a 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OP NETHEHLAKDS. 41 

maximum degree of productivity. The price of good land is high. 
The tracts devoted to market gardening about the cities easily com- 
mand $400 per acre. Of late years the domestic demand for fertil- 
izers has grown rapidly and there has been a corresponding growth 
in the number and output of fertilizer factories, as well as in the 
amount of imported fertilizers. 

SUPEKPHOSPHATES GUANO. 

There are six establishments devoted to the production of super- 
phosphate and mixed fertilizers, located at Amsterdam, Rotterdam, 
Capelle, Hoogkerk, Uden, and Zwyndrecht, nearly all accessible to 
ocean craft. Raw phosphates are brought chiefly from the United 
States, but also from Africa aniil the Pacific. Each factory manu- 
factures the sulphuric acid needed for its operations. There are 
650 workmen employed in these works and the total output is esti- 
mated at 306.000 metric tons. The organization of these w^orks 
ranks high and the products are able to compete to some extent in the 
world's markets. In these Dutch works there is an increasing manu- 
facture of ammonium sujoerphosphate. The standard product ob- 
tained b}^ mixing ammonium sulphate with ordinary superphos- 
phate contains 7 per cent of nitrogen and 9 per cent of soluble 
l^hosphoric acid. 

Much of the guano now arriving in the Netherlands contains large 
amounts of insoluble calcium phosphate and is treated with sul- 
phuric acid in order to secure a soluble product. 

AMMONIUM SULPHATE BONE MEAL. 

The manufacture of ammonium sulphate, for use as a fertilizer 
chiefly, is highly perfected in the Netherlands. Thirty large gas 
works produce the salt in a commercial form, and the ammonia water 
of 80 smaller works is collected in a large factory at Weesp and 
there transformed into sulphate. Increasingly large quantities of 
ammonium sulphate are now demanded for application in the sugar 
plantations of the Dutch colonies. 

The production of bone meal as a subsidiary product in connec- 
tion with the manufacture of glue is gaining in importance. In the 
Dutch works the ordinary procedure is to remove the fatty matter 
of the bones by extraction with benzine vapor in closed vessels. The 
bones are then crushed and passed through sieves. The coarser mate- 
rial, containing 4 per cent nitrogen, is used directly as a fertilizer, 
the phosphoric acid being easily assimilable. The finer material is 
then extracted with superheated water. The degelatinized residue 
contains only 0.5 to 1 per cent of nitrogen. Its phosphoric acid 
(30-35 per cent PoO,-) is' largely in the citrate soluble form, so that 
it practically has the value of Thomas meal. It is usually sold in this 
form for use, although in some instances it is treated with sulphuric 
acid and changed into superphosphate. The various sorts are 
largely in demand for home use and there is an export of over 3,000 
metric tons annually. 

IMPORTS OF FERTILIZERS. 

While so much is being done to produce artificial fertilizers at 
home the Netherlands consume, and probably always will consume, 



42 CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF NETHEELANDS. 

large amounts of fertilizers of foreign origin. The raw material for 
its superphosphates comes naturally from a distance. The annual 
consumption of Chile saltpeter has now reached 75,000 metric tons. 
Dutch agriculture shows an appreciation for cyanamide and for the 
newly introduced calcium nitrate of Norway. There is a growing 
consumption of Thomas meal. The purchases from Germany in 1911 
reached 131,000 metric tons. Germany in 1911 also shipped. to the 
Netherlands 19,000 tons of ordinary superphosphate, 8,000 tons of 
other artificial fertilizers, and also 143,000 metric tons of kainite 
and other Strassfurt crude salts, 1,800 tons of potassium chloride, 
and 45,000 tons of magnesium-potassium sulphate. Lime salts are 
also imported to some extent for use as fertilizers. 

PIGMENTS AND COLORS. 

In earlier days the cultivation of madder was highly developed in 
the Netherlands, and the preparation of the dyestuff from its root 
formed an imj)ortant branch of manufacture. The introduction of 
artificial alizarin over a third of a century ago caused the disappear- 
ance of the madder fields at the same time as in France. Some small 
factories still continue to import the root from the Orient and to 
extract the coloring matter. 

Woad was also an object of extensive cultivation formerly, but 
has long since been given up. The importation of natural indigo 
from Java and from British India was likewise an important fea- 
ture until recently in the Dutch trade. It has now shrunk to small 
dimensions. In 1911 the import from Java was valued at $30,000. 
Synthetic indigo is largely imported and exported. The total im- 
j)orts of indigo in 1911 were valued at $727,000; the exports amounted 
to 940 tons. It is worthy of note that the commercial indigo from 
the Dutch colony of Java is of a much higher grade than that from 
Bengal. The average percentage of pure indigo is 70 per cent, as 
compared with 60 per cent in the Bengal variety. 

At present the color industry attempts little in the way of manu- 
facturing coal-tar colors. The chief exception is in the case of a 
factory at Delft, which takes advantage of the absence of patent 
protection in the Netherlands and manufactures a variety of the 
simpler aniline dyes, which are still protected by patents in other 
lands. The output, valued at about $200,000 annually, is naturally 
for domestic consumption. About 100 operatives are employed. 

MINERAL PIGMENTS WHITE LEAD. 

The manufacture of mineral pigments is very highly developed, 
relatively more so than in almost any o'ther European country. 
There are over 80 factories, employing about 1,200 workmen, now 
engaged in this industry, as well as in the production of lacs and 
varnishes. In the majority of these works colors and pigments are 
prepared ready for use and in large variety. 

Varnishes and lacs, especially Japanese lacs, are manufactured in 
about 35 works, mineral pigments in some 18 works, and colors pre- 
pared ready for use in about 28 works. In these larger groups are 
several specialized factories. There are 8 establishments in which 
madder is extracted and Turkey-red dyes prepared for use; in 1911 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 43 

they consumed 29 tons of madder root. Two factories manufacture 
the simpler aniline dyes. Colors for enameling are made in 1 fac- 
tory. Copper paints for ships' hulls are a specialty in 5 factories, 
and ultramarine in 1 factory. Lead and zinc pigments are made 
the sole products of manufacture in a few works. 

From an early date white lead has been an important Dutch prod- 
uct. The process of manufacture in general use throughout the 
world for the production of this pigment was first perfected in the 
Netherlands. The Dutch product has always enjoyed a high repu- 
tation on account of its covering power and there has been a wide- 
spread exportation. The original " Dutch process " consisted in 
exj)osing small rolls of sheet lead to the combined action of acetic- 
acid vapors and carbon dioxide. Chambers containing a multitude 
of small vessels, each with its charge of lead and acetic acid, were 
surrounded with layers of horse dung or spent tanbark. The latter 
furnished the carbon dioxide required and maintained the requisite 
temperature for the reaction. After a lapse of several weeks thick 
crusts of a basic lead carbonate were formed. These were easily 
separated from accompanying lead acetate by treatment with water, 
were ground, and dried. 

The entire operation is involved and requires most careful super- 
vision. It is still used in England and Belgium and to a large extent 
in the United States. In the Netherlands it has been replaced by 
more direct methods. Thin sheets of lead are suspended on wooden 
strips in a chamber, into which vapors of acetic acid are driven by 
slow distillation. Carbon dioxide is admitted simultaneously as the 
product of the combustion of coke. A temperature of 60° C. is 
maintained. Such a chamber is charged with 10 tons or more of 
lead, and the operation lasts for nearly two months. Essentials are 
the proper proportions between acetic acid and carbon dioxide, the 
presence of a slight amount of water, and the maintenance of the 
proper temperature. Under these conditions the product is perfectly 
white, soft, and greasy to the touch. Otherwise it may be j^ellowish 
in appearance and tend toward hardness. The crude product is 
treated with water in large vats and separated from residual frag- 
ments of lead as well as from the soluble lead acetate. It is finely 
ground when in the moist state and then removed to drying chambers. 
In the Dutch works elaborate precautions are taken to prevent work- 
men from inhaling the dust of white lead. Moist sponges protect 
mouth and nose, and a powerful draft is maintained in the rooms 
devoted to the manipulation. As a result, cases of lead poisoning a're 
exceedingly rare in connection with this branch of manufacture. 

Most of the white lead produced in the Netherlands is now ground 
with linseed oil and sold in this form for consumption. The de- 
mand for white lead in the dry powder diminishes each year, not only 
in the Netherlands, but throughout Europe. 

RED LEAD AND LITHARGE — ZINC WHITE. 

Red lead and litharge are manufactured in a single factory. The 
residues of metallic lead, resulting from the preparation of white 
lead, serve as raw material for oxidization to the form of litharge. 
The operation is carried on in a reA^erberatory furnace, the fused 
metal being kept in constant agitation. The litharge collected on the 



44 CHEMICAL INDUSTElES OF KETHEELAKDS. 

surface is carefully ground and dried in ovens with external heat. 
A part of the litharge is employed for the clarification of the oils 
used in making varnish. Most of it serves for the further manu- 
facture of red lead or minium. This is effected by careful heating 
in a furnace at 300° to 350° C. Small amounts of orange-colored 
minium are also manufactured by very carefully roasting white lead 
and the light residues resulting frQm its washing in the process of its 
preparation. 

The fine quality of Dutch white lead and red lead is largely due to 
the extreme care taken to employ at the outset the purest form of 
lead obtainable. The metal is furnished almost entirely from 
Belgium. 

Two factories are devoted to zinc white. The manufacture is based 
upon the combustion of zinc vapor in a current of heated air. As 
conducted in the Netherlands, numerous small retorts of refractory 
material, charged with the metal, are heated in a furnace to the tem- 
perature at which distillation begins. The current of hot air passes 
before the mouths of the retorts and there is an active combustion of 
the metal. The resultant oxide is carried along by the air current 
through a series of large chambers constructed of sheet iron, fol- 
lowed by another series of canvas. The light, flocculent oxide is 
deposited in these chambers, and ' withdrawn from time to time 
through openings in the bottom. The oxide collected near the exit 
of the furnace is of a grayish tinge; the whitest grade is secured in 
the more distant chambers. Much of the product, as in the case of 
white lead, is ground with oils. Poppy oil is employed for the finer 
qualities; linseed oil for the other grades. 

MTHOPONE — INK. 

A single factory is engaged in the production of this new pig- 
ment, for which the demand grows steadily. It consists essentially 
of a mixture of zinc sulphide and barium sulphate, the latter con- 
stituting TO per cent of the mass. The main reaction consists in 
bringing together, in the proper proportions, solutions of barium 
sulphide and zinc sulphate. The resultant precipitate of insoluble 
zinc sulphide and insoluble barium sulphate is filtered off, dried, cal- 
cined in a muffle furnace, moistened, ground, dried in a steam cham- 
ber, and reground. The barium sulphide employed is prepared by 
the reduction of German heavy spar with coal in a reverberatory 
furnace and extraction with water. The residues from the zinc 
works, treated with dilute sulphuric acid, furnish the zinc sulphate. 
The solutions of the latter are usually freed from iron by precipita- 
tion with bleaching powder. It has also been found practical to 
make use of pyrite residues that contain zinc. They are roasted 
with salt, and the zinc chloride extracted by water is added, with the 
requisite amount of sodium sulphate, to the barium solution. De- 
spite the numerous operations involved lithopone costs much less 
than white lead or zinc white. In covering power it is inferior to its 
rivals, and it tends to assume a grayish tint when exposed to the 
sun, a tint which disappears, however, with removal from sunlight. 
There is a growing practice among painters of using lithopone as a 
ground coat, covering it with a subsequent coat of lead or zinc 
pigments. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 45 

Lithopone is manufactured chiefly for home consumption, but an 
export trade is beginning. White lead and zinc white are, however, 
widely exported. The annual export of the former ranges from 8,000 
to 9,000 metric tons; of the latter from 10,000 to 12,000 tons. In 
1911 Germany imported from the Netherlands 800 tons of lithopone, 
and exported thither 2,600 tons of zinc wliite and 1,500 tons of red 
lead. 

There are 12 factories engaged in the manufacture of ink. The 
output is relatively large, in keeping with the highly developed 
printing and publishing branches of the Kingdom. In most cases 
these factories produce also sealing wax and mucilage. One estab- 
lishment makes a specialty of ink powder for the export trade. 

In connection with the subject of colors it is to be noted that there 
is a considerable consumption in the Netherlands of dyeing materials. 
Apart from the large textile works, whiclx possess their own dye 
houses, there are about 60 independent dyeing works employing over 
1,200 operatives. 

EXPLOSIVES— GAS WORKS. 

A single company is engaged in the manufacture of powder and 
high explosives. It operates two factories near Amsterdam, in one 
of which gunpoAvder is made, while the other is devoted to the pro- 
duction of guncotton and nitroglycerin. The bulk of its production 
is required for the military establishment and for use in the colonies, 
as the topography of the Netherlands and the limited mineral wealth 
make few demands for explosives. A few small factories manufac- 
ture fireworks and there is a limited exportation, chiefly to Canada 
and the United States. 

The Netherlands was one of the first countries to introduce the use 
of illuminating gas on an extended scale. It is now manufactured in 
all cities and towns, and even in many villages. In most cases the 
works are operated under municipal management. As a rule, the 
equipment is thoroughly modern and up-to-date. The consumption 
of gas increases steadily despite the widespread introduction of elec- 
tricity, which is also usually under municipal control. Much of this 
increase is due to the growing use of gas for heating and cooking pur- 
poses, as well as to the employment of automatic meters for the con- 
trol of small quantities.- 

The total number of gas works is 120, and the number of workmen 
about 8,000. The great majority manufacture both coal gas and car- 
buretted gas, the two often being mixed for general distribution. 
The amount of carburetted tN^ater gas introduced in such mixtures 
ranges from 10 to 20 per cent. Experience has shown that on account 
of the simple construction and management of water-gas generators, 
it is much easier by this combination to provide for changes in con- 
sumption, due to the season of the year, and to meet emergencies when 
accidents happen in the more complex plant needed for coal gas. 

The water gas employed for carburetting is usually that produced 
by the Dellwik-Fleischer system. The construction and operation of 
the generators are now so highly perfected that fully 75 per cent of 
the coke used as a charge is transformed into fuel gas. The manipula- 
tion is such that periods of gas generation, lasting 5 to 7 minutes, 
alternate with hot-blast periods of 1 to 2 minutes. On an average, 
water gas is evolved for 50 minutes during each hour with 51 per cent 



46 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHEELANDS. 

of hydrogen and 40 per cent of CO. Benzine is employed for car- 
buretting, usually in the cold. 

The price of gas ranges from $0.59 to $0.83 per 1,000 cubic feet in 
the Dutch cities. In the towns rates vary from $0.71 to $1.06. 

The by-products are carefully utilized. Most of the tar is exported 
to England or Germany. The latter purchased 2,500 tons in 1911. 
A part of the product is treated in domestic works. The ammoniacal 
waters of the smaller gas works are sent to a central factory at Weesp, 
where ammonium sulphate is manufactured on a large scale. In 30 
of the large gas works commercial ammonium sulphate is prepared 
directly. The output of this group is about 5,000 metric tons an- 
nually. The gas works of Arnhem and Haarlem are equipped for 
the production of liquid ammonia. The annual output is about 900 
tons. Much of this is exported to Belgium, but about one-third is 
sent to Germany. The latter country purchases also some of the 
crude ammonia water of the Dutch works — 760 tons in 1911. In the 
larger works care is taken to recover the hydrocyanic acid, usually 
in the form of potassium ferrocyanide. The works at The Hague 
furnish sodium ferrocyanide. 

COAL. TAR— COMPRESSED GASES. 

There are two large tar works, at Amsterdam and Krimpen, and a 
few smaller stills. The distillation is confined chiefly to the separa- 
tion of the hydrocarbons in the cruder forms, benzine, toluene, 
naphthalene, and anthracene. Carbolic acid and its simpler homo- 
logues are also isolated. Most of these products are exported. Ger- 
many purchases about 1,000 tons annually of the heavier oils. 

This industry has been recently introduced. Electrolytic oxygen 
and hydrogen are now furnished by two factories at Amsterdam and 
Schiedam. Two other factories, at Amsterdam and Rotterdam, sup- 
ply liquid carbonic acid. Magnesite is employed largely as a source. 

A firm at Utrecht, the Hollandsche Residugas-Maatschappij, has 
recently introduced a relatively simple process for securing technical 
hydrogen that promises to be of considerable importance, as the 
demand for this gas in connection with aeronautics grows rapidly. 
The fundamental idea is the decomposition of hydrocarbons at an 
elevated temperature into carbon and free hydrogen. It has been 
worked out in Germany in various directions, the most noteworthy 
being the transformation of the methane in ordinary illuminating 
gas into hydrogen and carbon. At Utrecht use is made of the tar 
collected in connection with the manufacture of carburetted water 
gas in Holland, and also of petroleum residues from Galicia and 
Texas. These matters are introduced into iron generators filled with 
glowing coke, when the decomposition takes place instantly. 

The sequence of operations is somewhat more complicated than that 
involved in the production of water gas, but in practice it works very 
simply. By a hot-air blast from the bottom of the generator the coke 
is raised to a high temperature. The hydrocarbon residues are then 
sprinkled on the top of the charge of coke for two to three minutes. 
The generator is filled with hydrogen, and this is expelled to a 
reservoir by means of a current of steam. The hot-air blast is 
renewed, etc. A gas containing 96 per cent of hydrogen is secured by 
this means. By passing it through a cylinder of coke at a still 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 47 

higher temperature a product containing 98.4 per cent of hydrogen 
can be prepared. Portable generators have been constructed, allow- 
ing the easy generation of the gas at any point ; they promise to be 
of great convenience for ballooning. The 96 per cent gas as produced 
at Utrecht costs $0.35 per 1,000 cubic feet, or about $0.06 per pound. 

MATCHES— CELLULOSE— PAPER. 

The manufacture of matches was started in 1870 in the region 
about Eindhoven, in southeast Netherlands. It is a section where 
poplar is abundant and serves for the production of the wooden 
shoes so characteristic of the country. The wood proved to be well 
adapted for the purpose, and the new industry gradually extended 
north. There was overproduction, and in 1880 several competing 
companies combined and concentrated their manufacture in a single 
large factory at Eindhoven, which emplo3'S 350 operatives and pro- 
duces about 400,000 boxes daily. There are also two other factories 
at Breda, with a total force of 300 workmen. In 1901 the Nether- 
lands forbade the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of 
matches. The industry is now confined exclusively to the produc- 
tion of the safety matches manufactured after the style of the 
Swedish article. The Dutch manufacturers have followed the ex- 
ample of their Swedish competitors and now make use of Russian 
aspen instead of poplar. Red phosphorus is purchased in England 
and Germany. The latter country supplies also potassium chlorate. 
"VYhile covering most of the home demand, there is a large and grow- 
ing exportation, especially to the Orient. In 1908 this exportation 
exceeded 84,000,000 boxes. 

The cellulose industry is somewhat limited. Of the four factories, 
one makes mechanical cellulose and two chemical cellulose, while the 
fourth employs straw. There is a considerable importation from 
Scandinavia and Germany, the latter furnishing about 7,000 tons 
annually. 

The manufacture of paper attained a high development in the 
Netherlands at a very early date, the first paper mill dating from 
1606. It still remains an important industry, and various grades and 
marks are well known in international trade. It was in Holland 
that the first mechanical device for treating rags and other paper 
stock Avith water and transforming them into pulp was perfected and 
put in operation. The universal use to-day of the " Hollander " in 
all paper works is a tribute to Dutch inventive ability in this field. 
At present there are 35 paper mills in existence, employing 2,700 
operatives. The majority are in the Province of Guelder, on both 
sides of the Rhine. The great bulk of the paper produced is machine- 
made, but in a few mills handmade linen paper is manufactured for 
the special demands of artists and bibliophiles. The production of 
so-called parchment paper through the action of sulphuric acid on 
ordinary paper has become an important branch of recent years. 
Straw is used to only a slight extent in the manufacture of paper, 
rags and cellulose being the chief raw materials. In fact, the collec- 
tion and sorting of rags for the needs of paper mills has assumed 
large dimensions in the Netherlands, and paper stock has become an 
important item of export. Printing paper for newspapers is the 
leading product of the mills and is made exclusively from mechan- 



48 CHEMICAL INDUSTEIES OF NETHEELANDS. 

ically ground wood pulp. Chemically prepared cellulose is em- 
ployed for book paper and much of the writing paper. 

The manufacture of cardboard and pasteboard from straw has 
assumed large dimensions during the past 30 years. There are now 
20 factories, employing 1,500 operatives and producing TOO tons daily. 
Much of the output is exported, largely to England, Belgium, South 
America, and the Dutch colonies. The total annual export of paper 
and pasteboard exceeds in value $5,000,000. Imports of paper and 
pasteboard, largely from Germany and Belgium, reach annually 
$3,400,000. 

One of the chief causes for the prominence of the paper industry 
in the Netherlands is the high perfection of typographic work in the 
country. There are now in the kingdom over 500 printing offices of 
some size, employing 14,000 operatives. 

GliUE— CAOUTCHOUC. 

The manufacture of glue is fairly well developed. The leading 
factories are at Utrecht, Delft, and Dongen. Bones form almost 
exclusively the raw material, the supply of hide and leather refuse in 
the Netherlands being exceedingly limited. The works at Delft 
make a specialty of high-grade gelatin. The glue and gelatin pro- 
duced, as well as the bone fat, are used chiefly at home. Bone meal 
and animal bone charcoal are exported to a considerable extent. 

The manufacture of articles from caoutchouc, gutta-percha, and 
balata has become of importance in the Netherlands, largely as the 
result of the extensive cultivation of rubber trees and plants in the 
Dutch East Indies and in Dutch Gruiana. Amsterdam is the chief 
center of the commerce in the crude product of the plantations, while 
Rotterdam furnishes a similar market for the material gathered in 
forests. The balata of Surinam is an important item in the latter 
category. There are four factories devoted to the manufacture of 
rubber articles; all of them include articles in ebonite. An estab- 
lishment at Haarlem, has taken up the manufacture of rubber paving 
blocks. 

TANNING. 

This industry was of considerable importance in earlier days and 
is still carried on extensively. Its prominence is due largely to the 
heavy trade in hides and skins of the Dutch ports. A special fea- 
ture of this trade is the import of buffalo hides from the East Indies. 
In 1909 there was an import of 577,000 hides of this category. The 
introduction of modern methods in tanning has led to a notable 
reduction in the number of tanneries. Forty years ago they num- 
bered 1,000. Now there are 460, with 2,500 workmen. The ma- 
jority are located in the south, in the Province of Brabant. A few 
establishments still follow the old methods and make use of oak 
bark. Most of the tanneries employ quebracho and other extracts, 
and chrome tanning becomes more and more general. There is a 
very large trade in tanning materials in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. 
There is one factory in the Netherlands for the manufacture of 
genuine parchment. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 49 

STARCH— DKXTRIN— GLUCOSE. 

The manufacture of starch in the Netherlands dates back at least 
two centuries. (The use of the material to stiffen lace ruffs and 
articles of apparel was a Flemish invention of 1525.) Early in the 
nineteenth century there were 30 factories in existence. Rice and 
wheat were originally employed as sources, but they have now been 
superseded largely by American corn. There are now 13 factories, 
employing 400 operatives, occupied in producing corn starch, as well 
as small quantities of rice starch and wheat starch. The gluten from 
the last mentioned is employed in the preparation of gluten bread, 
while the residues from corn starch serve as a cattle food. There is 
a limited export of corn starch, chiefly to England. In 1840 the 
first potato-starch factory was erected. The manufacture has grown 
steadily since then and has proved of great value in stimulating po- 
tato culture in certain sections. Much boggy territory, especially 
about Groningen, was found to be particularly well adapted for this 
culture after the removal of the peat deposits. 

Large tracts of former bogs are now under thorough cultivation 
and have assumed at the same time a semi-industrial character. Of 
the 42 factories devoted to potato starch, several are operated as co- 
operative undertakings, as is so frequently the case with sugar works 
and cheese factories. Over 70,000 acres are devoted to potato grow- 
ing in order to supply the demand. The animal crop is about 730,000 
metric tons and its average value $4,000,000. Of the total number 
of works, 30 produce dry starch alone, 2 furnish also starch in the 
moist form, 6 have added the manufacture of dextrin, and 6 more 
transform starch into glucose. While the glucose is used almost 
exclusively to meet the home demand, the bulk of the potato starch 
and the dextrin is exported. In 1911 this export amounted to 88,000 
metric tons. The quantity of dextrin included in this figure is esti- 
mated at 5,000 tons. The export was chiefly to Germany and Bel- 
gium, but included also considerable amounts for Great Britain and 
Italy. Against this export figure is to be reckoned an import of 
27,000 tons of potato starch, coming almost entirely from Germany. 
The exports and imports of corn starch balance each other very 
nearly. About 15 per cent of the potato starch produced is used in 
the Netherlands itself, chiefly in its textile works. It has been esti- 
mated that the production of potato starch in the Netherlands has 
more than doubled since the beginning of the present century. 

The manufacture of glucose began about 1880. At present, in addi- 
tion to the six starch factories already mentioned, there are five other 
establishments devoted exclusively to the transformation of starch 
into glucose. Apart from the gTowing tendency to employ glucose 
in the preparation of confectionery, jellies, etc.. there is a marked 
use of the material in breweries and in textile Avorks. A considerable 
amount of solid glucose is changed into caramel by heating to 220° C. ; 
in this form it is employed to color vinegar, beer, wine, and various 
sauces, etc. 

The starch industry, with its dependent branches, is regarded in 
the Netherlands as of prime importance, being the chief chemical 
manufacture utilizing so largely a domestic raw material. 

65401°— 12 4 



50 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 



OILS AND FATS. 

The extraction of oils assumed prominence at an early date in the 
Netherlands. Hundreds of windmills were built so that they could 
be employed at will for grinding grain or expressing oils. The 
modern oil mills make use of steam and are usually well equipped 
with hydraulic presses, etc., although not man}^ are of large size. A 
few, while operating with steam power, still use instead of presses 
huge old-fashioned millstones. They number in all 220, and employ 
2,835 workmen. The materials used are linseed, rapeseed, sesame, 
peanuts, and the soya bean. The first two are produced to quite an 
extent in the country itself, while the three others are imported. 

About 25,000 acres are devoted to flax culture. The annual produc- 
tion of linseed is estimated at 220,000 bushels. The Netherlands 
formerly led in the production of rapeseed. The culture has steadily 
retrograded with the decreased use of colza oil for the purpose of 
illumination. The annual crop of rapeseed at present is about 
300,000 bushels. Peanuts are brought from the African coast and 
American countries and from Java. The latter supplies much of the 
sesame, and the soya bean comes exclusively from Manchuria.' 

TRADE IN SEEDS, OILS, AND OIL CAKE. 

Apart from the requirements of the domestic oil mills the trade in 
oleaginous seeds has long been a pronounced feature in the Nether- 
lands. In 1911 the movement was as follows, in metric tons: Im- 
ports — linseed, 171,000; peanuts, 48,000; rapeseed, 48,000; soya beans, 
26,000; exports— linseed, 43,000; peanuts, 13,000; rapeseed^, 16,000; 
soya beans, 12,000. The imports of rapeseed come almost exclusively 
from Belgium, and those of linseed come largely from Belgium, but 
also from Argentina, Russia, and British India. 

Of other oleaginous matters mention may be made of the castor- 
oil bean, the annual imports of which amount to 800 tons, and of 
palm nuts, imported to the extent of 32,000 tons and exported to the 
extent of 29,000 tons. The commerce in copra has assumed large 
dimensions, about one-fifth of the European consumption being 
landed in the ports of Holland. The average annual importation is 
62,000 tons, of which about 6,000 tons are consumed in the manu- 
facture of candles, soap, etc. The remainder is sold largely to Ger- 
many and Belgium. Java and the Dutch colonial possessions in the 
east are now taking the lead in meeting the world's demand for 
cojora. In 1910 they furnished 161,000 metric tons. 

The commerce in expressed oils shows likewise an important trade 
movement apart from the products of the country. In 1911 it was as 
follows : 



Oils. 



Coconut . . . 
Cottonseed 
Linseed . . . 

Olive 

Palm 

Peanut 



Imports. 


Exports. 


Metric tons. 


Metric tons. 


12,820 


4,140 


12,0^0 


150 


90 


32,970 


140 


80 


22, 900 


7,860 


590 


8,120 



Oils. 



Poppy... 
Rapeseed. 

Sesame... 
Soya bean 
Other 



Imports. 



Metric tons. 

25 

1,350 

1,320 

6,330 

510 



Exports. 



Metric tons. 



1,770 

520 

30 

220 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 51 

The large export of linseed oil goes chiefly to Great Britain, Aus- 
tria, Belgium, and German3^ That of peanut oil is taken mostly by 
Great Britain. The United States furnishes the cottonseed oil. Oil 
of sesame is supplied by Germany, poppy oil by France, soya-bean 
oil by Great Britain and Belgium, and palm oil by Great Britain. 
Oil of sesame is now largely employed in the manufacture of mar- 
garine. 

The oil cake produced by the oil mills is consumed chiefly in the 
country itself as cattle food. The only exception is in the case of 
peanut cake, the export of which reaches 30,000 tons annually. A 
large establishment in Delft makes a specialty of the preparation of 
fine salad oil from peanuts, and of peanut flour. In addition to the 
domestic production, the Netherlands consume a large amount of 
imported oil cake. These imports in 1911 were as follows, in metric 
tons: Cotton seed, 26,200; linseed, 198,300; peanut, 3,400; rapeseed, 
9,100; other, 54,700. The United States supplies nearly all of the 
cottonseed meal and one-half of the linseed cake. 

ANIMAL OILS ISIARGAEIN. 

There is an annual consumption of 5,000 tons of train oil, furnished 
chiefly by Norway. The net import of lard is 12,000 tons, coming 
mostly from the United States. That of tallow reaches 36,000 tons, 
and is supplied hj Great Britain, Belgium, and the United States. 
Oleomargarin imports for consumption reached 24,000 tons in 1911, 
furnished almost entirely by the United States. 

The first factory for the manufacture of artificial butter by Mege- 
Mouries' process was established in the Netherlands in 1871. Since 
tlien the industry has extended rapidly, as was to be expected in a 
country where the dairy interests are highly developed. There are 
now 20 factories, employing 1,900 operatives. Several firms engaged 
in this manufacture have branch factories in Belgium and Germany. 
The domestic consumption is growing steadily, aijd there was an 
ex;port in 1911 of 46,000 metric tons. Great Britain is the chief 
purchaser. Small amounts go to Scandinavia and oriental lands. 
Local law guards very closely the correct branding of the product. 
There is an increasing demand in the Netherlands for imitation but- 
ters made from copra and other vegetable fats. 

CANDLES AND SOAP. 

The manufacture of candles in the Netherlands began about 60 
years ago, and the products possess a well-earned reputation in in- 
ternational trade. The industry is highly concentrated, there being 
but two factories. One at Schiedam employs 550 operatives, and the 
second at Gouda has a force of 600. The imports of palm oil are 
used chiefly in this industry, The bulk of the production is exported, 
as the domestic 'demand is limited. In 1911 the exports reached 3,000 
metric tons. A considerable portion of the stearin obtained by the 
decomposition of fats is not molded into candles, but is exported in 
solid blocks to those countries levying high duties on candles. The 
manufacture of candles, composed of a mixture of stearin and paraf- 
fin, has been introduced recently to compete in the Far East with the 
paraffin candles now made by the petroleum companies of Burma. 



52 CHEMICAL INDUSTEIES OF NETHEKLANDS. 

In a few small establishments wax candles, and tallow candles for 
ecclesiastical use, are still manufactured. There is a net annual 
importation of 1,800 tons of wax. 

There are 45 soap works employing 850 operatives. Most are com- 
paratively small. In 10 large works there is a modern equipment 
and recovery of glycerin. Most of the product is absorbed by the 
home market, but there is a growing export of fancy soap, powdered 
soap, and soap for textile purposes to the Dutch colonies and other 
oriental countries. There was an excise duty in the Netherlands on 
soap until 1893. . 

GLYCERIN OLEIN STEARIN PITCH. 

The candle factories and some of the soap factories recover the 
glycerin liberated in the process of saponification. Much of this is 
refined in a factory for the purpose, located at Naarden, and ex- 
ported for use in manufacturing nitroglycerin. The annual export 
exceeds 600 tons. It is shipped chiefly to South Africa and to Eng- 
land. The oleic acid obtained in the manufacture of candles and 
stearin is used to some extent in local soap works in the production 
of cheap grades of hard soap. There is an annual export of over 
3,000 metric tons of olein, taken chiefly by Belgium. The residue 
from candle works, known as stearin pitch, is carefully collected in 
the Dutch factories and employed in the preparation of a substitute 
for gutta-percha, which now finds increasing use for protecting ex- 
posed metallic surfaces, and especially for coating electric wires and 
cables. 

The pitch is mixed with one-sixth of its weight of ceresin or 
ozokerite and fused at 110° C. to a homogeneous liquid. Powdered 
picric acid (about 3 per cent of the weight of the liquid) is slowly 
added, under constant agitation. The agitation is continued while 
the temperature is raised to 125° C, and maintained there for some 
time. Vegetable fibers in a finely divided form are next added, the 
temperature is raised to 140°, and the liquid mass is poured into 
molds of the desired form. This imitation gutta-percha resists the 
attack of ordinary acids, and is reported to render good service in 
isolating electrical connections. 

PETROLEUM. 

The Netherlands depend for the supply of refined petroleum very 
largely upon the United States. There is, however, a growing im- 
portation of crude petroleum, chiefly from the Dutch colonies, which 
is refined at Eotterdam. The refinery is well equipped and supplies 
some 15 different grades of oil and gasoline. About one-half of the 
gasoline required by automobiles in the Netherlands comes from this 
factory. A large amount of Dutch capital has been invested in the 
petroleum trade, and competes directly with American petroleum in- 
terests in international commerce. It controls the production in the 
Dutch East Indies, where the annual output of crude oil exceeds 
2,000,000 metric tons. This oil is peculiarly rich in the lighter 
hydrocarbons, and gasoline from this source coinpetes closely with 
American gasoline m many markets. There is a single establishment 
at Amsterdam occupied with the preparation of paraffin. It uses a 



CHEMICAL INDUSTBIES OF NETHERLANDS. 53 

crude material brought from the Dutch colonies, and the annual out- 
put is over 1,000 tons. It is largety used in the candle factories, but 
there is a slight export. Lubricating oils are largely imported. The 
amount purchased in 1911 from abroad reached 13,600 metric tons. 
The United States furnished 5,700 tons, and Belgium 5,000 tons. 

The Rotterdam refinery has put upon the market a substitute for 
turpentine oil that consists of certain aromatic hydrocarbons occur- 
ring in unusual abundance in the crude^ petroleum of Borneo and 
easily separated b}^ fractionation. The Netherlands import over 
300 tons annually of turpentine from France and Belgium. Much 
of it is exported to Germany. 

QUININE— ACETIC ACID. 

Cinchona bark forms one of the most important products of the 
Dutch colonies, and Amsterdam is the chief market for its purchase 
and distribution. The imports in 1911 reached 8,070 metric tons, of 
which 5,440 tons were reexported. This import is the equivalent of 
nearly 500 tons of sulphate of quinine, and is about 20 times greater 
than the receipts of bark at London. There are two factories for the 
manufacture of sulphate of quinine, one at Amsterdam and the other 
at Maarssen. The manufacture of other products is not so highly 
specialized as in the American and German works. Numerous Ameri- 
can preparations are encountered in the Dutch pharmacies. Cocaine 
is manufactured on a small scale at Amsterdam. 

There are two factories engaged in the production of acetic acid, 
one of which manufactures also lead acetate. Imported calcium 
acetate is used as raw material. Several small establishments employ 
the purified acid to prepare " essence of vinegar " for household use. 
It is practically an 80 per cent acid, carefully freed from empyreu- 
matic odors, and rendered fragrant by digestion with fennel, cara- 
way, and other herbs. This essence is steadily displacing the ordinary 
vinegar, the consumption of which decreased nearly 50 per cent from 
1903 to 1908. The 59 vinegar factories in the country employ the 
rapid method of oxidation, based upon the use in fermentation casks 
of weak alcohol, with malt or other nitrogenous food for the acetic 
bacteria. 

MISCELL.ANEOUS ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. 

There are small factories engaged in the manufacture of chloro- 
form, ether, and ethyl chloride, all for the domestic market. Over a 
dozen establishments produce pharmaceutical preparations, some of 
them making a specialty of medicines in the tablet form. The annual 
consumption of crude opium in these factories is about 4,500 pounds. 
Several firms furnish dentifrices, antiseptic bandages, artificial min- 
eral waters, and salts for the same. Seven establishments supply 
rennet and coloring matter for dairy purposes and operate on a 
large scale. Several of the specialties are articles of export, more 
particularly to the East Indies, Japan, and South-Africa. 

There are several perfume factories producing chiefly eau de 
cologne. The manufacture of artificial musk (trinitroisobutylene) 
has been established at Melik-Herkenbosch ; but vanillin, ionon, and 
the other new synthetic perfumes are all purchased from Germany. 
Most volatile oils are likewise imported, but there is a rapidly grow- 



54 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 

ing industry in the production of fruit essences, based upon the use 
of native fruits. In three factories harness oil of a high grade is 
manufactured. 

SUGAR— ALCOHOIi. 

The beet-root sugar industry is firmly established in the Nether- 
lands. About 135,000 acres are devoted tO' the dilture of the plant 
and the sugar factories number 27, with a force of 7,500 Avorkmen. 
About one-sixth of the crop goes to the Belgian works for extrac- 
tion. The annual production of raw sugar exceeds 200,000 metric 
tons. The refineries number 11, but more than half of the refining 
is done in two large establishments at Amsterdam that employ 
1,150 operatives. Cane sugar is now no longer brought to the Dutch 
refineries, but there is an annual import of about 15,000 tons of 
raw beet sugar. The domestic consumption of sugar is over 80,000 
metric tons, which means a per capita consumption. of 31.5 pounds. 
The Netherlands still levy an excise duty on sugar of $4.93 per 100 
pounds. 

The export of refined sugar goes almost entirely to Great Britain. 
It averages 100,000 metric tons annually. Milk sugar is produced in 
three factories. 

For centuries the Netherlands have been known for the extent of 
their distilling industries. The number of establishments is even 
now very great, and the annual export of distilled liquors exceeds 
8,600,000 gallons. The per capita consumption of spirituous liquors 
(50 per cent alcohol) is 1.85 gallons. The large distilleries manufac- 
turing alcohol number 126. Of a total annual production of over 
19,000,000 gallons (50 per cent alcohol), 7,600,000 gallons are pro- 
duced from beet-root molasses and the remainder from grain. A 
considerable amount is denatured and employed for heating pur- 
poses. The greater part is used in the manufacture of gin, bitters, 
etc. The manufacture of yeast has assumed large dimensions in 
these distilleries. There is an average annual export of about 5,700 
metric tons. Belgium purchases 250 tons. Most of the remainder 
goes to Great Britain. 

FUELS. 

The Netherlands depend almost entirely on foreign sources for 
the coal supply. There is, however, a tract in the southeastern part 
of the Kingdom, in the Province of Limburg, where coal measures 
are fairly abundant. Conditions are not very favorable for mining, 
and the coal is of somewhat inferior grade. The area of territory 
known to contain coal deposits of distinct value is over 200 square 
miles and systematic exploitation is adding new tracts. There are at 
present 6 mines in operation, 2 of which are owned by the State. 
The number of miners is 6,450 and the annual output is about 
1,200,000 metric tons. Of this amount 70 per cent is exported across 
the adjacent frontier to German industrial centers. The average 
price per metric ton is $2.73. The exploitation on a fairly large 
scale began about 15 years ago and has multiplied tenfold since 
then. Nearly one-half of the known coal territory is in the control 
of private companies. Eecent legislation reserves to the State the 
right of exploiting newly discovered coal lands, and also the priv- 
ilege of expropriating the concessions now held by private companies. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 65 

The net imports of coal into the Netherlands amounted in 1911 to 
7,010,000 metric tons. Germany furnishes four-fifths of this quan- 
tity and Great Britain most of the remainder. 

The extraction of peat as a fuel is highly perfected, more so, prob- 
ably, than in any other country. The annual value of peat fuel is 
about $3,200,000. About 1,000 acres of peat bog are annually trans- 
formed into arable land. The special preparation of light, porous 
peat gathered from the upper layers of bogs has become an industry 
of importance in recent years. It replaces straw for stable litter as 
well as for packing purposes and protecting bulb plantations. The 
exportation of peat in this form has become a large item, absorbing 
nine-tenths of the annual production. 

METALLURGY. 

The s6il of the Netherlands conceals little in the way of metallic 
ores. In the east and southeast there are a few scattered veins of iron 
ore of a relatively inferior quality. They have been worked intermit- 
tently, the annual output sometimes reaching 3,000 tons. Smelting 
is carried on in 4 blast furnaces, but ore is frequently taken across the 
frontier to be reduced in Westphalian furnaces. 

The metallurgy of zinc is more highly developed. Zinc blende, 
partly from American mines, is brought in large quantities to a 
large establishment at Budel, where it is smelted. The brand of 
these works, the Nouvelle Montague, is well known. The concern 
employs about 800 workmen, and furnishes the raw material for the 
extensive manufacture of zinc pigments, as well as a considerable 
amount of metal for exportation. In 1911 the Netherlands imported 
49,000 metric tons of raw zinc and 8,700 tons of refined zinc, almost 
all from Belgium. The export was 68,000 tons of raw zinc and 2,000 
tons of refined. 

The metal industries are fairly well developed and show great 
diversity. The imports of iron and steel, raw and worked, amounted 
to 1,347,000 metric tons in 1911. The exports were 884,000 tons. The 
construction of cables, anchors, and other naval material is especially 
important. 

The annual consumption of raw copper supplied by the United 
States is about 10,000 metric tons. The Netherlands are the center of 
an extensive trade in this metal, over 100,000 tons being purchased 
for reexportation. There are a number of establishments for the 
production of copper castings, wire, and rod, and for the manufac- 
ture of a large variety of objects from the metal. 

There are large works for rolling sheet zinc and sheet lead and 
for producing lead pipe. Tin foil is also made on a large scale. The 
annual consumption of raw lead is about 10,000 metric tons. Much 
is used in the manufacture of white lead, and there is an export of 
about 2,500 tons of lead pipe and sheet. The annual consumption of 
raw tin is about 3,000 metric tons. 

It will be seen from this review that the Netherlands, despite the 
poverty of natural resources, have developed a wide variety of chemi- 
cal industries that hold their oAvn in international commerce. This 
is chiefly the result of native thrift and irigenuity. The protection 
afforded manufactured chemicals never exceeds 5 per cent. Raw 
materials enter free of duty. 



56 



Chemical industeies of netheelands. 



STATISTICS OF THE TRADE IN CHEMICALS. 

The market for chemicals, caused by the diversified general indus- 
tries of the land, is relatively large. The import of chemicals, not 
specially designated, had in 1911 a value of $5,269,000. The exports 
were $4,000,000. Of the irnports 67 per cent came from Germany, 
7.5 per cent from Great Britain, and 5 per cent rrom Belgium. The 
exports were largely to Great Britain and Germany. 

Apart from quinine, opium, seeds, oils, etc., the imports in 1911 of 
miscellaneous drugs was valued at $4,820,000. The Dutch colonies 
furnished 45 per cent and Germany 23.5 per cent of this amount. Ex- 
ports reached $3,710,000. Much went to Great Britain and Germany. 
The United States purchased to the extent of $600,000. As a pur- 
chasing country for chemicals and allied products the Netherlands 
owes its importance therefore more to its commercial relations in 
international trade than to the home consumption. 

In 1910 Belgium exported to its neighbor the follx)wing merchan- 
dise: 



Articles. 



Alcohol: 

Amylic 

Methyl- 
Crude 

Refined 

Alcoholic preparations 

Bones and horns 

Candles 

•Caoutchouc 

Cellulose 

Cement 

Chemicals, miscellaneous 

Colors: 

Miscellaneous 

Dyewoods 

Madder 

Fuel: 

Coal 

Coke 

Briquets 

Charcoal 

Drugs, miscellaneous 

Fats: 

Miscellaneous 

Lard 

Oleomargarin , 

Fertilizers: 

Miscellaneous 

Ammonium sulphate 

Chile saltpeter 

Guano 

Superphosphate 

Thomas meal 

Glue 

Gunpowder 

Lime 

Matches 

Metals: 

Iron ore and slag 

Aluminvun 

Copper 

Iron and steel, pig, rod, etc 

Galvanized iron 



Metric tons. 



142 

34 

4 

34 

2,356 

473 

815 

5,277 

130, 000 

72, 954 

3,787 
647 



299,000 

54, 490 

27,000 

750 

2,785 

5,771 

200 

44 

10, 690 

1,152 

32,000 

5,125 

54,900 

23,750 

128 

58 

160,000 

207 

20,240 

9 

275 

3,635 

286 



Articles. 



Metals— Continued. 

Lead 

Nickel 

Tin 

Zinc 

Molasses 

Paper 

Perfinnes 

Petroleum 

Resins and bitumen 

Salt 

Soap: 

Soft 

Hard 

Toilet 

Soda ash 

Sodium sulphate 

Starch 

Sugar 

Sulphur 

Tanning material 

Varnish 

Vegetable oils, seeds, etc 

Linseed 

Peanuts... 

Poppy seed 

Rapeseed 

Sesame 

Copra 

Castor oil 

Coconut oil 

Cottonseed oil 

Linseed oil 

Maize oil 

OUveoil 

Palm oil 

Peanut oil 

Rapeseed oil 

Sesame oil 

Other oils 

Oil cake 

Wax 

Yeast 



Metric tons. 



4,355 
56 

157 

13,686 

13,600 

4,620 

4 

41,624 

16, 426 

781 

11 

12 

31 

4,320 

2,886 

1,537 

24,080 

1,227 

4,096 

50 

64,349 

1,631 

58 

29,946 

2,650 

29 

138 

4,747 

209 

65 

29 

24 

422 

280 

143 

448 

1,069 

12,250 

12 

386 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OE NETHEHLAKDS. 



57 



The following table shows the imports of various chemical products 
from Germany during 1911: 



Articles. 



!.[etric tons. 



Acids: 

Acetic 

nydrochloric 

Sulphuric 

Albumen 

Alizarin: 

Paste 

Dyes 

Alkaloids 

Aluminum sulphate 

Alums 

Aniline colors 

Barytes 

Bauxite 

Blacking and shoe polish. . 
Borax: 

Crude 

Refined 

Calcium acetate 

Calcium carbide 

Caoutchouc 

Carbolic acid, liquid 

Cement 

Cement materials, tufa, etc 

Chemical foods 

Chemicals miscellaneous.. 
Colors and pigments: 

Chrome colors 

Lithopone 

Ochers 

Red lead 

Ultramarine 

Whitelead 

Zinc white 

Prepared colors 

Copperas 

Drugs, miscellaneous 

Dynamite 

Fats: 

Lard 

Tallow 

Fertilizers: 

Ammonium sulphate. . 

Animal refuse 

Bone meal 

Chile saltpeter 

Guano — 

Natural 

Artificial 

Potash salts, Stassfurt. 

Superphosphates 

Thomas meal 

Fruit essences 

Fuel: 

Bituminous coal 

Coal briquets 

Coke 

Ligiute 

Lignite briquets 

Charcoal 

Peat 

Gases, liquefied 

Glue 

Glycerin: 

Crude 

Refined 

Graphite 

Gunpowder 

Gypsum 

Incugo 

Ink, printers' 



376 

2.560 

12, 222 

17 

212 

101 

1.3 

2,625 

186 

1,035 

15, 795 

587 

521 

62 

356 

6 

615 

62 

993 

119,981 

21,027 

22 

1,230 

410 
1,160 
2,035 
883 
460 
830 
390 
262 
600 
105 
151 

700 
157 

9,339 
5,383 
1,465 
2,403 

346 

1,231 

143, 171 

13,954 

131,479 

1.2 

,950,581 

218,555 

228, 228 

11.109 

216, 743 

3,943 

32,378 

177 

6 46 

1,182 

347 

6 

45 

6,064 

579 

321 



Articles. 



Lime 

Licorice paste 

Mantles, incandescent 

Mercury 

Metals: 

Copper 

Lead 

Tin 

Zinc 

Methyl alcohol 

Mineral-water salts 

Oil seeds: 

Linseed 

Sesame and other 

Oils: 

Lubricating 

Resin 

Gasoline 

Coconut 

Palm 

Peanut 

Poppy 

Rapeseed 

Oil cake 

Olein 

Ores and slags: 

Lead 

Zinc 

Slags 

Perfumes: 

Synthetic 

Eau de Cologne 

Pharmaceutical preparations 

Pitch 

Potash salts: 

Carbonate 

Caustic 

Chloride 

Iodide 

Nitrate 

Sulphate 

Potassium magnesium sulphate 

Salt, crude 

Soap: 

Hard 

Soft 

Toilet 

Pomades 

Soda ash: 

Crude 

Refined 

Sodium sulphate 

Starch: 

Com 

Rice 

Sugar: 

Beet 

Milk 

Tanning extracts 

Tar: 

Wood 

Coal - 

Heavy oils, nitrobenzene, anthro- 

quinone, etc 

Turpentine and resin 

Varnish 

Water glass 

Withente 

Wood pulp, chemical 

Zinc chloride 



Metric tons. 



12,280 

92 

38 

4 

105 
3,176 
449 
649 
236 
34 

1,414 
2 

2,992 
57 

560 
2,119 

374 

260 

1,343 

1,585 

61,325 

127 

521 
4,169 
4,214 

16 

90 

108 

10,649 

535 

5,185 

1,873 

8. 

876 

1,858 

44, 786 

37,253 

198 
499 
169 
269 

188 
5,351 
6,805 

696 
510 

35,020 
110 
147 

827 
66,221 

117 
281 
489 

4,142 
306 

6,801 
326 



68 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OP NETHERLANDS. 



It will be seen from the table that the Netherlands offer an im- 
portant market for manufactured chemicals and for the raw mate- 
rials of chemical industry. In addition to the quantities oriven, 
Germany ships a considerable amount of manufactured chemicals, 
especially dyestuff's and organic compounds, to JaA^a and the other 
Dutch colonies in the East Indies. The demand in these colonies is 
steadily growing and is becoming an important factor in the chem- 
ical trade. For example, in 1911 they purchased from Germany 197 
tons of aniline dyes, 454 tons of alizarin, 686 tons of synthetic 
indigo, 20,682 tons of ammonium sulphate, 241 tons of potassium 
cyanide, etc. 

TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES. 

The extent to which the United States participates in the Dutch 
market may be determined from the following table, which shows 
the Dutch imports of American chemicals and allied products for 
the fiscal year 1910 : 



Articles. 



Asphaltum 

Blackmg 

Bones, horn, etc 

Chemicals: 

Calcium acetate 

Dyes 

Patent medicines 

Roots, herbs, etc 

Sulphur 

Tanning extracts 

Wood alcohol 

Miscellaneous 

Copper * 

Fertilizers, phosphate rock 

Glue 

Glucose 

Grape sugar 

Graphite 

Grease 

Ink 

Lead 

Nickel 

Peanuts 

Rosin 

Oil cake: 

Cottonseed 

Com 

Linseed 

Oils: 

Oleo 

Other animal 



Value. 



24, 



2, 



$24, 700 
4,000 
2,300 

231, 300 

14, 400 

8,300 

18, 300 

22,800 

2,000 

70, 800 

45, 000 

066, 000 

950, 800 

900 

1,800 

3,700 

600 

379, 900 

1,000 

1,100 

370,000 

5,600 

837, 300 

783, 000 
119, 000 
073, 000 

526,000 
79,300 



Articles. 



Oils — Continued. 
Mineral — 

Lubricating... 

Naphtha 

Petroleum 

Residues 

Expressed — 

Com 

Cottonseed 

Other 

Essential 

Paints, pigments, etc.: 

Lampblack 

Zinc oxide 

Other 

Paper 

Paper stock 

Paraffin 

Perfumery, cosmetics. 
Seeds: 

Cotton seed 

Linseed 

Other 

Soaps, toilet 

Starch 

Tar, turpentine, pitch. 

Turpentine, spirits 

Varnishes 

Zinc ore 



Value. 



$1,153,000 

303,200 

6, 042, 000 

38, 200 

21,100 

3,674,000 

5,800 

1,800 

26,900 
66, 900 
26, 300 
51,400 
14,400 
243,000 
3,900 

52,100 

49,500 

10, 600 

4,000 

149, 400 

7,500 

1,267,000 

16, 900 

534,000 



It is worthy of note that the Netherlands are America's chief market 
for copper, nickel, oleo oil, and cottonseed oil. In the case of several 
other products the country is outranked by only one to three coun- 
tries, as follows : Linseed oil cake, by Belgium ; spirits of turpentinp, 
by Germany ; phosphate rock, by Germany, Denmark, and the United 
Kingdom; cottonseed oil cake, by Germany, Denmark, and the 
United Kingdom ; rosin and petroleum, by Germany and France. 

In American imports into the Netherlands there has been a very 
rapid increase during the past few years in the case of nickel, wood 
alcohol, and calcium acetate and a more moderate increase in the case 
of naval stores, naphtha, roots, herbs, etc. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 



59 



Sales of glucose, lead, zinc oxide, and peanuts are steadily decreas- 
ing; in the case of the last mentioned the falling off is very marked. 

Exports of chemicals and allied products from the Netherlands to 
the United States are shown in the following table : 



Articles. 



Chemicals: 

Ammonium sulphate 

Aniline salts 

Bleaching powder 

Cinchona bark 

Coal tar — 

Colors 

Preparations 

Products, miscellaneous 

Dyewood extracts 

Fusel oil. . - 

Gelatin 

Glycerin 

Gums — 

Copal, dammar, etc 

other 

Magnesia 

Potash, caustic 

Potassium carbonate 

Quinine, sulphate, and salts 

Sodium salts , 

Miscellaneous chemicals 



Value. 



$11,800 

12, 700 

2,000 

221,600 

16,500 
2,500 
7,000 
600 
1,200 
3,700 
203,000 

20,300 

2,500 

35,300 

500 

1,000 

91,000 

2,500 

102,000 



Articles. 



Glue 

Mantles, incandescent 

Matches 

Oils: 

Cocoa butter 

Coconut oil 

Peanut oil 

Rapeseed oil 

Other expressed oils 

Essential oils 

Oleostearin 

Paints, pigments, and colors 

Paper 

Paper stock 

Seeds, oleaginous 

Soap 

Starch 

Tin 

Wax 

Wood pulp, chemical 



Value. 



$1,000 

600 

2,300 

479,000 

700 

227, 100 

4,000 

103,700 

44,500 

410, 900 

52,500 

76,500 

256, 100 

429,500 

1,100 

30, 500 

261,200 

6,600 

4,400 



Of recent years there is a marked tendency to increase American 
purchases of peanut oil from this source, as well as other nondutiable 
expressed oils, of oleaginous seeds, oleostearin, paper stock, and 
paints. On the other hand, the United States is purchasing much 
less cinchona bark, quinine salts, dutiable expressed oils, paper, A\?ax, 
and miscellaneous chemicals. Several articles, such as cement, creo- 
sote oil, fish oils, paraffin, potassium sulphate, and vanilla beans, find 
their way to the United States occasionally, but not regularly, by the 
way of the Netherlands. 

In the production of. quinine compounds the equipment of Ameri- 
can works is now so highly perfected that an import in quantity of 
such products seems more and more unnecessary. The large imports 
of peanut oil, other expressed oils, and oleostearin seem equally out 
of place in a country where the raw material is abundant and cheap. 
The large amount of zinc ore shipped abroad for reduction shows 
also a somewhat abnormal trend. The extensive purchases of calcined 
magnesia from the Netherlands is certainly unnecessary. The Greek 
magnesite employed could be brought almost as cheaply direct to 
American ports. 

CONCLUSION. 

The Dutch market for German chemical products deserves careful 
study. In several fields it w^ould appear that American manufac- 
turers might successfully attempt competition. This is more par- 
ticularly the case with borax, cement, chemical foods, chrome colors, 
ochers, zinc white, and other pigments, Thomas meal, toilet soaps, 
tanning extracts, varnish, and zinc chloride. 

The country offers an interesting example of what can be accom- 
plished in building up diversified branches in this field when there 
IS an almost complete dependence upon foreign fuel and raw material. 



60 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NETHERLANDS. 

The evolution and present condition of the manufacture of starch, of 
mineral pigments, of matches, and fertilizers, as well as the industries 
connected with the oils and fats, are most instructive in this con- 
nection. 

With the extension of American trade in the lands bordering the 
Pacific, the well-organized system of distributing chemical products 
from the Netherlands to meet the demands of Japan, China, and the 
Indies should be carefully kept in view. The increasing demand for 
chemicals in the Dutch colonies is an additional factor worthy of 
attention. 



NORWAY. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Numerous factors have combined to retard the industrial progress 
of Norway. The climate is severe, coal is lacking, the .mineral 
deposits are not easily accessible, the area of tillable land is very 
limited, and the industrial education of the people is not advanced. 

Less than 3 per cent of the land is under cultivation, about 25 per 
cent is covered by forests, and the remainder consists essentially of 
moors, mountain pastures, lakes, and marshes. The conditions of 
life have been comparatively hard and emigration extensive. Ex- 
ports to other countries have been limited chiefly to timber and the 
products of the extensive fisheries. 

There is, however, now a marked' change for the better. Norway 
bids fair to develop into an industrial state of considerable impor- 
tance, and the chemical industries are the ones coming most promi- 
nently to the fore in the movement. The first step forward w^as 
taken in the development of the wood-pulp industry. The second, 
and most important for Norway's future, was the utilization of the 
country's magnificent water power for the establishment of electro- 
technical and, more especially, of electrochemical industries on a 
scale impossible in any other European land. 

The general movement forward in the manufacturing industries of 
the Kingdom and more specifically in the various branches of applied 
chemistry may be measured b}^ the growth during the decade 1897- 
1908. It should be stated, in this connection, however, that a very 
noticeable increase in the establishment of new factories, mills, etc., 
began in 1890. It reached its maximum in 1899. There was a de- 
cline in the rate until 1904, when a new period of activity set in, and 
has continued uninterruptedly until the present time. 

During the decade ending 1908 there was in Norwegian industry 
an increase of 45 per cent in the number of " years of work," i. e., the 
total number of days of work in a year divided by 300. This increase 
is five times greater than the increase of population. During the 
same period there was an increase of 159 per cent in chemical manu- 
facturing branches. There was an absolute increase of $21,440,000 
in the amount of wages paid to operatives, representing an advance 
of 82 per cent. This advance in chemical industries amounted to 
333 per cent. 

The average annual wage for all operatives in all industries was 
$210.38 in 1897; in 1908, $264.52, an increase of 26 per cent. In 
chemical industries the average annual wage advanced 67 per cent 
during the period. The averao^e dailv wage of adult operatives in 
all industries was $0.82 in 1900 ^and $0192 in 1908. 

61 



62 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF NOKWAY. 



STATISTICS OF CHEMICAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES. 

In 1897 there was, on an average, 1^ horsepower of motive force 
(equal to the work of 25 men) employed per operative in Norwegian 
factories. In 1908 it had increased to 2^ horsepower. The average 
establishment employed 45 horsepower in 1897 and 76 in 1908. 

The following table has been compiled to show the exact status 
of the Norwegian chemical industry in 1908, giving data on each 
separate branch. The classification of the Norwegian census is 
followed. 



Industries. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES PROPER. 



Bone grinding 

Calcium carbide 

Chemicals: 

Heavy 

Minor (ink, blacking, etc.) 

Colors 

Electrochemicals 

Explosives 

Fertilizers 

Glue 

Insulating material 

Matches 

Pharmaceutical product , 

Tar paper 

Varnishes 



Total. 



CANDLES, OILS, POWER, ETC. 



Candles 

Electric power, centrals. 

Gas works 

Oils and by-products 

Perfumes 

Petroleum: 

Briquettiag 

Refilling 



Soap. 

Steam power houses. 

Train oil: 

Refining 

Rendering 

Above combined. 



Total. 



ALLIED INDUSTRIES. 



Cement 

Copper smelting 

Glass 

Iron works 

Mining of apatite, minerals, etc. 

Ore mining 

Paper 

Tanneries 

Treatment of minerals 

Wood pulp: 

Chemical 

Mechanical 



Total 

Grand total . 



Factories 



106 



2 
53 

6 
17 

1 

1 
2 

39 
3 

36 

15 

9 



184 



1 

4 

9 

4 

66 

111 

33 

78 

6 

23 

66 



401 



691 



Opera- 
tives. 



10 
1,158 

429 

80 

66 

675 

133 

132 

57 

11 

918 

52 

8 

12 



Average 
daily 
wage. 



3,741 



25 
459 

57 

376 

6 

4 

56 

338 

5 

160 

87 
32 



1,005 



160 

232 

1,143 

58 

511 

4,877 

3,492 

576 

168 

4,563 
3,475 



19, 255 



24,601 



10.72 
1.20 

.94 
.61 
.84 

1.18 
.90 
.69 
.76 

1.36 
.73 
.60 
.72 
.79 



.47 
1.10 
1.00 

.88 

.77 

.78 
1.06 

.72 
1.01 

.76 
.80 
.85 



.96 
1.00 
.84 
.89 
.86 
1.13 
.91 
.87 
.73 

1.00 
.94 



Horse- 
power. 



95 
59, 350 

729 

61 

108 

40, 045 

235 

638 

142 

12 

464 

23 



101,902 



137, 167 

34 

896 



3 

37 

158 
367 

33 
73 



138, 777 



1,360 

1,100 

214 

320 

65 

16,016 

19, 006 

860 

531 

27,307 
108, 188 



174, 967 



415, 646 



HEAVY CHEMICALS— UTILIZATION OP KELP. 

In regard to most chemical products Norway is still largely de- 
pendent upon other countries. Apart from her electrochemical indus- 
tries, there is a fair development of the manufacture of matches, 
cellulose, fertilizers, oils, candles, iodine, and oxalic acid. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF NORWAY. 63 

The heavy chemicals are imported chiefly from Germany and 
Great Britain. Sulphuric acid is manufactured cheaply, as the 
Norwegian pyrites is of excellent quality and is shipped in large 
quantities to other countries. The product of the three acid works 
in active operation is used chiefly for the manufacture of super- 
phosphate and is inadequate to cover the needs of domestic industry. 
There is an annual import, valued at $42,000. Five small estab- 
lishments furnish washing soda, in crystals, but the main supply of 
soda ash, caustic soda, Glauber's salt, and bleaching powder is 
secured from Germany and elsewhere, as the country is dependent 
upon imported salt. 

The utilization of kelp as a source of iodine and potash salts con- 
tinues to be a prominent industry on the shores of Norway. As in 
the case of Scotland, Normandy, and Japan, conditions seem to 
enable this time-honored branch still to maintain the competition 
with Chile iodine. In view of the exhaustion, within a measurable 
time, of the Chile nitrate deposits, it is well that the kelp industry is 
kept alive, and that studies are made to perfect its processes. There 
are nine establishments along the Norwegian coast occupied with 
this branch. Besides supplying the home demand, they exported 
in 1910 iodine to the value of $53,000 and 2,318 metric tons of kelp 
ash, valued at $64,000 (metric ton=2,204.6 pounds). The current 
price of the latter is $27.34 per metric ton. Less is done in Norway 
than in Scotland to extract in a commercial form potash salts from 
this ash, although all of the kelp works furnish potash fertilizers. 
There is, however, a process in use for extracting from the kelp, 
before incineration, a highly mucilaginous substance that is a com- 
bination of potash with an acid present in seaweed. It is used to 
some extent in finishing textiles and is brought into commerce 
under the the name of " norgine." 

OXAIilC ACID— COPPER PIGMENTS— MATCHES. 

One large lumber firm at Frederiksstacl carries on very successfully 
the manufacture of oxalic acid. It is made by fusing sawdust 
with a mixture of the caustic alkalies. Sodium oxalate is sepa- 
rated by crystallization from the solution of the fused product 
and transformed into calcium oxalate by treatment with milk of 
lime. The pure acid is secured from the calcium salt by the usual 
treatment with sulphuric acid. The export of oxalic acid, amount- 
ing to $37,000 in 1910, goes chiefly to the United States. The 
firm in question manufactures also' such oxalates as are demanded 
in commerce. 

The manufacture of copper pigments for use on the hulls of both 
wooden and steel vessels is highly developed in Norway, as is to 
be expected in a country possessing so extensive a mercantile marine. 
Nine establishments make a specialty of this product, and there is 
an annual export valued at $58,000. 

The manufacture of matches has long been established in Norway. 
In 1910 the exports reached 5,230 metric tons, valued at $532,000. 
The NorAvegian factories manufacture chiefly the ordinary friction 
sulphur match. There is a very limited production of safety matches. 



64 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NOEWAY. 

\t^OOD PULP AND PAPER. 

The production of mechanical and chemical wood pulp has likewise 
assumed large dimensions in Norway, where conditions resemble so 
closely those existing in Sweden. The Norwegian spruce, with its 
low percentage of resin, seems exceptionally well adapted for the 
industry. Fears are often expressed in Norway, as in other lands, 
that the forest wealth is being sacrificed too rapidly to the growing 
demands of the pulp industr}^ In 1910 the export reached 640,000 
metric tons, of which Great Britain purchased two-thirds. Closely 
connected with this branch is paper manufacture, the exports amount- 
ing in 1910 to 138,500 tons. Of this, 70 per cent, chiefly printing 
paper and packing paper, went to Great Britain, and the remainder 
was shipped to Hamburg. 

FISH OILS— SUPERPHOSPHATE AND AMMONIUM SULPHATE. 

The vast fisheries of Norway furnish a large portion of the coun- 
try's contribution to international trade. Fish oils are an important 
item. Sixty establishments are concerned with the varied products, 
chiefly those derived from the seal, whale, herring, and cod. The 
total annual exports of fish oils range from 4,000,000 to 4,500,000 
gallons. In 1910 the exports of cod-liver oil for medicinal use reached 
1,453,000 gallons. ^ 

An important item in the full utilization of the products of the 
fisheries is the extensive manufacture of fish guano, fish-bone meal, 
powdered whale flesh, and powdered herring and other fish. A large 
number of firms are engaged in this branch. Not only are the needs 
of Norwegian agriculture fully met, but there is a large surplus for 
exportation. The value of exports in 1910 was about $650,000. 

There are three factories making superphosphate, and the import 
from abroad amounts to but $59,000 per annum. Norway is one of 
the few countries possessing ample deposits of apatite. The annual 
output covers the domestic needs and there is a small export. Nor- 
wegian agriculturists, however, use large quantities of Thomas slag, 
and the demand is met almost entirely by foreign importation. The 
annual value is $224,000. 

Ammonium sulphate is supplied by four of the leading gas works 
in the country. 

ELECTROCHEMICAL INDUSTRIES. 

It is in the recent establishment of electrochemical industries upon 
a grand scale that Norway has disclosed her latent power as a coming 
factor in the field of applied chemistry. The vast, hitherto almost 
neglected, water power is now being harnessed, one factory after 
another is coming into existence, and soon the Kingdom will present 
a remarkable exhibit of varied chemical industries, contributing 
largely to the world's markets and enriching rapidly the land. 

This change began in 1899, when the first calcium-carbide factory 
was built. The number of works has steadily increased until now 
there are seven in operation. In 1905 the first air-nitrate works be- 
gan operation. Now a second, on a much larger scale, is about to 
open, and others are planned. In addition, there is a factory for 
cyanamide, one for sodium, one for aluminum, one for nickel, one for 
ferrosilicon, and one for electrosteel. There are also several smaller 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF NORWAY. 65 

experimental plants. The products of these factories exported in 
1910 had the following values: Calcium carbide, $1,627,000; calcium 
cyanamide, $184,000; calcium nitrate, $507,000; sodium nitrate, 
$58,000; sodium nitrite, $809,000; aluminum, $437,000; sodium, 
$63,000; ferrosilicon, $192,000; total, $3,377,000. 

The exported products in the above categories were valued at 
$2,717,000 in 1909. The annual increase at present in the value of 
electrochemical products, as far as it can be measured by export 
statistics, is thus $660,000. 

CALCIUM CARBIDE — CALCIUM CYANAMIDE. 

The manufacture of calcium carbide was the pioneer electrical 
industry in Norway, and considerable English capital has been 
invested in this branch. A French company operates one plant at 
Hafslund. The Kellner Partington Paper Pulp Co. at Borregaard 
is a good example of foreign investment in Norway. The company 
utilizes 24,000 horsepower, and employs 3,000 workmen in its carbide 
factory, ferrosilicon works, and large pulp mill. It is the largest 
industrial establishment in the Kingdom. The Albion Products Co. 
at Notodden, and the Alby United Carbide Factories at Odda, are 
two other large English undertakings. At Trondhjem, the Meraker 
Carbide & Smelting Works have added to their extensive works 
plants for producing ferrochrome and ferrotitanium. The seven car- 
bide works employ a total of 60,000 horsepower. They are all 
located on the coast or on navigable rivers, and manufacture almost 
exclusively for exportation. In 1910 they shipped 50,579 metric 
tons at an average price of $32.16 per ton. The average daily yield 
per horsepower is roughly estimated at 2^ kilos, or 843 kilos in the 
year. In German factories the yield ranges from 3 to 5 kilos, as 
compared with a theoretical maximum of 8 kilos. The equipment 
of the carbide factories in Norway is essentially the same as that of 
the American factories. 

An English company, the Northwestern Cyanamide Co., has built 
large works at Odda, on the Hardanger Fjord, and established on a 
successful basis the manufacture from atmospheric nitrogen of cal- 
cium cyanamide, which is competing with Norwegian calcium nitrate 
for recognition as the most economic form in which the air ■ can 
furnish nitrogenous compounds for the needs of agriculture. The 
firm shipped 752 metric tons in 1909 and 4,281 tons in 1910. The 
price is $42.88 per metric ton. The industry is evidently on a firm 
footing, and finds a market for its products, as do the similar works 
in Germany. 

AIR NITRATES SODIUM. 

At Notodden, in 1905, the first factory for manufacturing nitric 
acid directly from the elementary gases of the atmosphere was 
erected. In an enlarged form it now gives occupation to 500 work- 
men, and is daily demonstrating the remarkable possibilities of this 
new factor in chemical industry and in economic evolution. The 
factory furnishes all the nitrates required by Norway in agriculture 
and the arts, and is shipping constantly increasing quantities to 
foreign countries. The exports for two years were as follows : 1909 — 

65401°— 12 5 



66 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF NORWAY. 

calcium nitrate, 9,422 tons; sodium nitrite, 2,577 tons; sodium nitrate, 
592 tons; 1910 — calcium nitrate, 13,531 tons; sodium nitrite, 3,200 
tons ; sodium nitrate, 1,074 tons. 

During 1911 the manufacture of ammonium nitrate for use in 
making explosives has been introduced upon a large scale, as it is 
profitable at present prices. Ammonia is imported from England, 
and after conversion into the nitrate is shipped back. A much 
larger factory is nearing completion at Saaheim and will be put in 
active operation before the close of 1911. 

A single factory at Yadheim, on the west coast, is manufacturing 
sodium very successfully. The export in 1909 was 179 tons. The 
price is $0,536 per kilo, or $0,243 per pound. The process employed 
is that of the direct electrolysis of fused anhydrous caustic soda. 
Fusion vessels and cathode are of iron, and the anode is of nickel 
iron. The success of the operation depends largely upon the pains 
taken to keep the temperature of the bath within the narrow limits 
of 310° to 330° C. and the rapid removal from the cathode of the 
liberated metal. There is an increasing demand for sodium for use 
in making sodium cyanide, sodium amide, and especially sodium 
peroxide. 

ALUMINUM AND FERROSILICON. 

One large factory at Christianssand is devoted to the electrolytic 
production of aluminum. The process is practically identical with 
that employed in the large American works. The export of the 
metal was 486 metric tons in 1909 and 1,019 tons in 1910. This is 
equivalent to one-ninth of the annual American production. The 
Norwegian aluminum is sold at $0.43 per kilo. A considerable 
amount is employed in equipping the air-nitrate works, as the large 
conduits for acid gases and the piping for nitric acid are all made 

of this metal. 

The demand for ferrosilicon, so indispensable m the modern met- 
allurgy of iron, is rapidly gi'OAving, as shown by the exports from 
both Norway and Sweden^ to other countries. In. 1909 Norway 
shipped 2,645 metric tons abroad; in 1910 the export reached 5,121 
tons. Much of the output is made in the electric furnaces at Borre- 
gaard. 

DECREASED OUTPUT OF NICKEL ^ELECTROLYTIC REFINING. 

Norway possesses extensive deposits of nickel ores, much of it 
containing as high as 2 per cent of the metal. In former years nickel 
mining was of some importance, but competition with the richer ores 
of Canada and the United States could not be maintained, and most 
of the mines ceased operation. During the closing decade of the 
last century the annual production of nickel sank to 7 tons. Since 
1900 the industry has revived, and there is an annual output now of 
70 tons nearly all of which is used in the Kingdom. In 1909 the 
only rriine worked, that of Eije, yielded 5,770 tons of ore containing 
1 1 per cent of nickel. In the smelting works 2.77 tons of matte 
are obtained from 100 tons of ore. This matte contains 40 per cent 
of nickel and 25 per cent of copper. It is refined m the new elec- 
trolytic works at Christianssand, which are equipped for an annual 



' CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF NORWAY. 67 

production of 400 tons of the metal. The production of electrolytic 
nickel is a much more complicated operation than are those yieldini^ 
aluminum or sodium. The copper-nickel matte is used as anode in 
a weak acid bath. Both metals are dissolved and pure copper is 
deposited on the cathode. At a certain point, when the electrolyte 
contains in solution a relatively large percentage of nickel, the cur- 
rent is interrupted. The remaining copper is first removed from 
the solution (by hj^drogen sulphide) and then the iron is removed 
with the customary precipitants. From this purified and heated 
solution nickel is deposited electrolytically, insoluble anodes being 
used. The electrolytic nickel has a high degree of purity and is 
fairly compact. The total consumption of electricity is relatively 
large and the process can be employed with advantage only where the 
cost of the current is exceptionally low, as is the case in Norway. 

ELECTRIC SMELTING. 

The success that has followed the experimental trials of the Gron- 
wall furnace for the electric smelting of iron ores, first at Domnarf- 
vet, in central Sweden, and later on a larger scale at Trollhattan 
near Gothenburg [see Daily Consular and Trade Reports for May 6, 
July 19, and Oct. 14, 1911], has demonstrated beyond question 
the economic and technical advantages of this new process. The 
Norsk Electrometal Co. has promptly secured patent rights for 
Norway, and two companies are now constructing electric iron- 
smelting works under their licenses. The Hardanger Electriske, of 
Staalwerk, is erecting two furnaces at Odda that will use 5,800 horse- 
power from the Tysse fall. The company controls in all 15,000 
horsepower at this point. At Arendal the Arendals Fosse-Compagni 
is building furnaces that will utilize 6,000 horsepower, and is able to 
increase it to 30,000. 

A somewhat different type of smelter is under construction near 
Notodden by the Tinfoss Jemoers Aktieselskab, which will use at 
first 5,000 horsepower and can increase it, if necessary, to 15,000. 
Unquestionably within a few months the electric manufacture of an 
excellent grade of iron will be established in Norway on a good 
working basis. 

The electric-smelting industry promises much for the country. 
In earlier years Norway possessed a flourishing iron industry, but 
saw it gradually decline as the fuel became more and more expensive. 
The land is rich in iron deposits, most of which are too remote to 
permit of advantageous mining at present. The Norwegian magne- 
tite is not rich enough to warrant its export, and it is too hard for 
English smelters. If exported at all it must usually be previously 
concentrated and briquetted. involving considerable expense. This 
magnetic iron ore, however, frequently contains sufficient lime to be 
self-fluxing. When adequate and cheap water power is near the 
mines, not only the magnetic ore, but the low-grade ores not worked 
at all now can easily be turned into first-class steel billets and offer a 
large margin of profit at present prices. It may be that Norway 
will rank eventually among the prominent iron-producing countries 
of Europe, as but little is known about the full extent of its mineral 
wealth, especially in the northern, less accessible regions. 



68 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF NOKWAY. 



ELECTRIC STEEL FURNACE. 

Active steps are also being taken to introduce the electric steel 
furnace. The Hardanger company is installing one requiring 800 
horsepower, and other plans are on foot. The fine grade of iron 
obtained from an electric smelter with the use of charcoal is almost 
free from manganese and silicon. If brought into a mixture heated 
with gas and then refined in an electric furnace, the steel produced 
should be of an exceptional quality. 

All of these plants and projects are dependent upon the contin- 
uance of the cheap rate for water power in Norway. In Sweden 
the cost per annual horsepower is apt to range above 50 crowns, or 
$13.40. In Norway rates vary usually between $5.40 and $10.70. 
There are some cases where the cost is even as low as $4. 

In addition to the foregoing enterprises, Norwegian capitalists are 
discussing the establishment of electric works for zinc smelting, for 
nickel smelting, and for the combined electric smelting of copper ores 
and the electric refining of the metal. 

STATISTICS OF MINES AND METALLURGICAL PLANTS. 

The following table shows the condition of the mines and metal- 
lurgical plants in 1909. Comparative figures of production for 
1896 are added. 



Ores. 



Metric tons. 



1896 



1909 



Value in 
1909. 



Miners 
and opera- 
tives in 
1909. 



Apatite 

Copper 

Feldspar 

Gold 

Iron 

Lead and zinc 

Molybdenum 

Nickel 

Pyrites: 

Arsenical 

Iron and copper . 

Rutile 

Silver 



METALS SMELTED. 



Cobalt compounds . 

Copper 

Nickel 

Pig iron 

Silver 



1,485 
36, 956 
15, 568 



,510 

452 

1 

422 



87,867 

33 

400 



1 

1,112 

7 

336 

4.8 



1.364 
42, 612 
36,439 



40, 389 

983 

30 

5,770 

160 

282,806 

83 

2,729 



1, 594 
70 



7.8 



$18,000 

450,000 

127, 000 

2,000 

79,000 

6,000 

12,000 

27,000 

2,000 

, 638, 000 

19,000 

150,000 



445,000 
29, 000 



134, 000 



2,243 



47 
681 
262 

46 

78 

4 

1,867 



264 



116 

57 



11 



In 1910 Norway purchased iron and steel to the amount of 
$4,581,000 and manufactures of iron and steel valued at $4,832,000. 
Imports of other metals reached $1,397,000, and other metal manu- 
factures, $6,243,000. 



TRADE STATISTICS. 



It will not be easy for Norway to introduce the essential features 
of modem chemical industry apart from the distinctively electro- 
chemical branches The dependence upon other countries for most 



CHEMICAL INDUSTEIES OF NOKWAY. 



69 



I 



of its chemical supplies is shown by the following table of such im- 
ports for 1910. Countries of origin are indicated in the order of 
their importance. 

[Ar., Argentina; Aus., Austria; B., Belgium; Den., Denmark; F., France; G., Germany; I., Italy; N. 
Netherlands; R., Russia; S., Sweden; Sp., Spain; U. S., United States; U. K., United Kingdom.] 



Articles. 



FATS, OILS, TAR, GUMS. 

Animal fats 

Camphor 

Oils: 

Fish 

Lubricating 

Train 

Vegetable 

Volatile 

Other fats and oils 

Petroleum 

Resin 

Shellac 

Stearic and palmitic 

acids, paraffin. 
Tar: 

Coal 

Wood 

Turpentine 

Wax 

MANUFACTURES OF 
FATS, OILS, ETC. 

Blacking 

Candles: 

stearin and tal- 
low. 

Wax 

Cleaning powders and 
washes. 

Cosmetics 

Glue 

Glycerin 

Hair oil 

Perfumes 

Printer's ink 

Soap: 

Toilet 

Other 

COLORS. 

Aniline dyes . 

Caramel (for liquors). 
Catechu and gambler 
Chalk, barytes, china 

clay. 
Chemicals used in 

dyeing. 

Colors in tubes 

Divi-divi 

Dye wood extracts 

Indigo 

Lampblack, graphite 

Ochers , umbers 

Pigments in oil 

Prepared colors in 

packets. 
Red lead 



Value. 



$2,393,000 



3,000 



885, 
264, 
330, 

2,400, 

153, 

5, 

1,372, 

240, 

23, 

115, 



10, 

70, 

2, 

12, 



000 
000 
000 

000 
000 
000 
000 
000 
000 
000 



000 
000 
000 
000 



27,000 

5,000 

1,000 
3,000 

13,000 

62,000 

108,000 

1,000 

9,000 

38, 000 

28,000 

51,000 



203,000 

9.000 

15,000 

130,000 

38,000 

12,000 
21,000 
11,000 
14, 000 
10, 000 
32, 000 
8,000 
11, 000 

40,000 



Countries of 
origin. 



S.,G.,N.,U. 



S. America. 

Spitzbergen, 
Faroe. 



F.,L,Sp. 



K., F., Ar., 
U.K.,N.,G. 



S.,G., N. 



S., U. K., G., 

F.,U. S. 
U. K., S., F., 

G. 



G., N., U. K., 
B., Switz. 



G.,N. 



Articles. 



COLORS — continued. 

Tar pigments for 

ships' hulls. 

Vitriols 

White lead and zinc 

white. 

Other pigments 

Varnishes 

EXPLOSIVES. 

Dynamite, etc 

Fireworks 

Powder 

MINERALS, ETC. 

Bauxite and cryolite. 

Coal 

Coke 

Gypsum 

Kainite 

Sal 

CHEMICALS. 

Alums 

Aluminum 

Ammonia and salts. . 
Ammonium carbo- 
nate. 

Argols 

Bleaching powder. . . 

Borax 

Boric acid 

Calcium acetate 

Calcium carbide 

Carbolic acid 

Carbonic acid 

Cement 

Creosote and oils 

Ethers: 

Sulphuric 

Other 

Fertilizers 

Glauber's salt 

Hydrochloric acid. . . 

Nitric acid 

Phosphorus 

Potash 

Potash, caustic 

Potassium chlorate . . 

Saltpeter 

Soda ash 

Soda, caustic 

Sodium nitrate 

Spirit, denatured 

Sulphur 

Sulphuric acid 

Superphosphate 

Thomas slag 

Water glass 

Miscellaneous 



Value. 



$28, 000 

4,000 
144,000 

1,000 
91,000 



15, 000 
6,000 
4,000 



168, 000 
7,340,000 
911,000 
28,000 
116,000 
595, 000 



44,000 

11,000 

116,000 

5,000 

7,000 

26, 000 

9,000 

2,000 

28,000 

4,000 

2,000 

500 

140,000 

29, 000 

600 

5,000 

51,000 

67,000 

4,000 

2,000 

17,000 

47,000 

12,000 

50,000 

45, 000 

222, 000 

16,000 

12,000 

4,000 

248, 000 

42,000 

59,000 

224, 000 

5,000 

61,000 



Countries of 
origin. 



U. N.,G.,N. 



G., N., U. K., 
B.,U. S. 



U. K. 

U. K.,N.,G. 



I., Sp., U. K., 
N. Africa. 



G., S., U. K., 
B. 



G. 
G.,B.,U. K. 



U. K.,Sp. 
N., G.,S.,B. 



70 



CHEMICAL Ils^DUSTEIES OF NOKWAY. 



EXPORTATION OF CHEMICAL GOODS. 



The exports of chemical supplies from Norway in 1910 are given 
in the following table, the countries of destination being given in the 
order of importance : 



Articles. 



FATS, OILS, TARS, ETC. 

Bone fat 

Coal tar 

Glue 

Glycerin 

Oils: 

Linseed, etc 

Lubricating 

Tar 

Train and cod-liver. . 

Pitch 

Stearin, etc 

VARIOUS MANUFAC- 
TURES. 

Explosives 

Matches 

Soap , 

Wood pulp: 
Chemical — 

Dry 

Wet 

Mechanical — 

Dry 

Wet 

FERTILIZERS. 

Bone meal 

Fish guano 

Fish meal, etc 

ORES, ETC. 

Apatite 

Copper-nickel ores 



Value. 



$28,000 
27,000 
32,000 
33,000 

1,000 

11,000 

1,000 

2,064,000 

13,000 
23,000 



4,000 
532,000 



3,000 

6,255,000 

27,000 

269,000 

4,029,000 



36,000 
404,000 

210,000 



9,000 
47,000 



Destination. 



S., U. K., F. 
U. K., S. 



S., G. 

S., R., Iceland. 

N.,G.,S.,Aus. 

B.,U. K. 
S., R., B. 
N., G., U. K. 



India, U. K., 
U. S.,G.,B., 

N. Africa. 
S.,, Iceland. 



U. K., U. S., 
F., B., Mex., 
G.,N., I. 

U. K., B., N., 
U. S. 

F., G., Sp., 
U. K., Ar., 
I., B., U. S. 

U. K., F., B., 
N., Den. 



S.,G.,U.S.,N. 
G., F., U. S., 
V. K. 



G., U. K. 



Articles. 



ORES, ETC.— continued. 

Feldspar , 

Graphite , 

Iron ore 

Magnesite 

Molybdenite , 

Pyrites 

Pyrites, arsenical 

Pyrites, cinder, rich in 
copper. 

Quartz 

Rare minerals 

Rutile 

Zinc ore 

METALS. 

Aluminum 

Copper , 

Ferrosilicon '. 

Sodium 

Zinc , 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Ammonium sulphate... 

Calcium carbide 

Calcium nitrate 

Cement 

Cyanamide 

Iodine 

Kelp ashes 

Oxalic acid 

Pigments: 

Copper 

In oil 

Other 

Soda ash 

Sodium: 

Nitrate of 

Nitrite of 

Zinc white 



Value. 



$151,000 

9,000 

223,000 

18,000 

5,000 

1,880,000 

2,000 
138, 000 

8,000 

6,000 

4,000 

20,000 



437,000 
358,000 
192,000 
63,000 
412,000 



21,000 

1,627,000 

507,000 

44,000 
184,000 
53,000 
64,000 
37,000 

58,000 

3,000 
3,000 
1,000 

58,000 

309,000 

600 



Destination. 



G., B., U. K., 
F., N. 

N., U. K. 



U. K., G., N., 
B., F. 

S., B., G. 

G.,R. 



U. K., G. 



G., U. K., N., 
Den., F., B. 

G., U. K., R. 

G. 

U. K. 

U. S., U. K., I. 

U. K., Den., 
China, G. 



TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES. 



The exports to the United States are comparatively limited, the 
figures for 1909 being as follows: 



Articles. 



Aluminum 

Calcium carbide 

Cement 

Cod-liver and other fish oils 

Ferrosilicon 

Fertilizers: 

Bone meal 

Fish guano 

Powdered herring 

other :.. 



Value. 



$30, 000 

8,000 

1,500 

97, 000 

18,000 

3,000 

12, 000 

8,000 

6,000 



Articles. 



Matches 

Oxalic acid 

Wood pulp: 
Chemical — 

Dry 

Wet 

Mechanical — 

Dry 

Wet 

Other chemical products 



Value. 



$58, 000 
43,000 



1, 192, 000 
5,000 

7,000 

200 

13, 000 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF NOKWAY. 71 

Norway's imports from the United States for 1909 were valued at 
$5,799,000. They included : Blacking, $700; coal, $26,000; chem- 
icals, drugs, dyes, and medicines, $7,500; soap stock, $8,000; mineral 
oils, $899,000; cottonseed oil, $242,000; and paraffin, $500. 

STRIKING FEATURES OF NORWAY'S CHEMICAL. INDUSTRIES. 

In surveying the chemical industries of Norway there are 'several 
features worthy of careful study by the American economist. First 
and foremost is the systematic and exhaustive manner in which the 
abundant water power of the country is now being regulated, stored 
up, and pressed into the service of the steadily increasing group of 
electrochemical industries. The best talent in the nation is enlisted 
in this cause, and the way is rapidly being opened for Norway to 
assume an industrial position commensurate with its geographical 
size and admirable facilities for maritime transportation. 

In another field Norway has shown her ability to develop an indus- 
try, fitting in well with her enormous lumber interests, and that is 
in the manufacture of oxalic acid. It is a source of wonder that no 
attempt has yet been made to organize this branch of manufacture 
in the vicinity of some of the great American lumber centers, where 
sawdust, the primary raw material, is without value except as fuel. 
The United States buys annually oxalic acid from Norway to the 
value of $43,000, and from Germany to the value of $65,000. The 
American market should not be dependent upon European manufac- 
turers for a chemical the preparation of which is so comparatively 
simple. 

As a market for American chemicals, Norway offers less of a field 
than the neighboring Scandinavian States, on account of the limited 
extent to which many industries consuming such products are 
developed at present. The character of the demand is much the 
same as in Denmark and Sweden. The quantity is relatively less. 



SWEDEN. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Sweden is a land in which chemistry has played an important 
role from a comparatively early date. Scheele and Berzelius were 
among the most noted pioneers in the formative period of the science, 
and no less than 20 of the knoAvn chemical elements have been dis- 
covered by Swedes. The Kingdom owes to three factors its past and 
present position in technical chemistry. The first is a fairly abun- 
dant and diversified mineral wealth. Swedish iron and copper once 
dominated the world's markets. While no longer leading in quantity, 
Sweden still occupies a foremost position with regard to the quality 
of its metal products and the high technical standard of its mining 
and metallurgical equipment. 

A second feature is the enormous extent of the country's forests. 
Once contributing the necessary charcoal for its choice product of 
iron, they now furnish the raw material for an enormous industry — 
the manufacture of cellulose in its varied forms. 

The third factor is Sweden's abundant water power. The coal 
deposits of the land are unfortunately limited and of inferior quality. 
The annual output is 305,000 long tons. In earlier days the forests 
supplied fuel. Now that timber possesses a greater value and the 
supply is more limited it has been necessary to import coal from 
abroad to the extent of 3,000,000 tons annually. 

With the advent of electric power and its economical transmission 
it has been possible to utilize the waterfalls on a most extensive scale. 
Electrotechnical industries have promptly availed themselves of 
this opportunity. The total available water power of the Kingdom 
is estimated at over 4,000,000 horsepower. About one-ninth has thus 
far been harnessed for industrial purposes. Each year at present 
there is an additional increase of over 100,000 horsepower. In 1911 
it is estimated that this increase will be about 115,000 horsepower. 
Owdng largely to this rapid exploitation of her vast water power, 
Sweden is changing from a producer of raw materials to a predomi- 
nantly manufacturing land. Modern industrialism is rapidly invad- 
ing every field of national activity.. 

EXPANSION or THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. 

The chemical industry of the country is confined chiefly to inor- 
ganic branches. Apart from the wood pulp and the products of the 
electrochemical branches, it is in most cases inadequate to meet the 
demands of the home market of a population of 5,500,000. It is, 
however, expanding steadily, more rapidly than the growth of popu- 
lation. 
72 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF SWEDEN^. 



73 



According to the census of 1900 there were 256 chemical factories, 
employing 2,644 workmen, with annual products valued at $4,095,000. 
To these should be added 187 factories producing oils, tar, etc., with 
2,434 workmen and an output of $5,650,000, and the match industry, 
with 20 factories, 6,102 workmen, and products valued at $2,665,000. 
Paper and allied branches were credited with 159 factories, 18,490 
workmen, and an output of $8,130,000. The metallurgical industries 
give employment to 16,876 workmen, and the products are valued at 
$49,050,000. For purposes of comparison the statistics of other 
leading industries are here given: Mining, 13,861 workmen, out- 
put $5,430,000; metals and machines, 56,222 workmen, output 
$44,840,000 ; textiles, 37,187 workmen, output $36,100,000. 

The 256 establishments classified by the census as chemical works 
are subdivided as follows: 



Character of products. 



Factories. 



Work- 
men. 



Value of 
products. 



Inorganic acids, bases, and salts 

Fertilizers 

Explosives 

Colors and miscellaneous 



32 

72 

19 

133 



291 
921 
664 

768 



8683,000 

1, 402, 000 

897,000 

1,113.000 



For its supplies of most heavy chemicals Sweden is still to a great 
degree dependent upon other European countries. 

INORGANIC ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS. 

Sulphuric acid is made largely in connection with the manufac- 
ture of superphosphate. In seven factories, with 39 worlanen, there 
was an annual output of 35,108 metric tons (metric ton=2,204.6 
pounds). Twenty years before the output was but 4,000 tons. The 
output nearly covers the domestic demand. Pyrites is used chiefly in 
the works, and is imported from Norway and Spain. There is also a 
considerable consumption of Sicilian sulphur. 

There is but one factory for caustic soda and bleaching powder. 
Both articles are imported chiefly, as is also the case with soda and 
its various by-products and derivatives. In the list of salts, how- 
ever, there is one notable exception in the case of potassium chlorate. 
This comjDound, so important in the domestic match industry and in 
the manufacture of explosives, is now one of the leading staple prod- 
ucts of Sweden and is extensively exported. The electrolytic process 
by which it is produced was devised in 1893 by Director O. Carlson, 
who started the first electrochemical establishment in Sweden. In 
1900 the two factories employed 215 workmen, and the chlorate pro- 
duced was valued at $214,000. In 1909 imports of chlorate had sunk 
to 207 tons, and the Swedish factories were not only meeting the 
home demand but exporting annually 1,400 tons to other countries. 
The industry uses potassium chloride from Stassfurt as its raw 
material. 

Carlson's method is an advance upon preceding processes for the 
electrolysis of alkaline chlorides, as he does not use diaphragms in 
the electrolytic bath and maintains a continuous operation. Cath- 
odes of iron are employed, but the anodes, which were originally 
of carbon, are now of platinum-iridium gauze. Formerly the baths 



74 CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF SWEDEN. 

were kept slightly alkaline by additions of caustic potash or lime. 
Now they are kept slightly acid, as free hypochlorous acid favors 
the formation of chlorate. Small amounts of potassium bichromate 
are also added to prevent the reduction on the cathode of the potas- 
sium hypochlorite primarily formed. The process is noteworthy as 
the sole important instance where an electrolytic method has proved 
to be economically superior to an old-established process of chem- 
ical manufacture and has eifectually displaced it. In Germany only 
one factory has tried to maintain its manufacture of potassium 
chlorate by the old process, using Deacon chlorine. In England the 
old process is likewise being gradually abandoned. 

FERTILIZERS. 

Agriculture is highly developed in Sweden, one-half of the popula- 
tion being engaged in tilling the soil, and the demand for artificial 
fertilizers is extensive. Although there are large amounts of apatite 
in the country, it is impossible to compete with the raw phosphate 
brought from Florida, Algiers, and the Pacific. About 29,000 tons 
of Chile saltpeter are imported annually. Thomxas slag is worked 
up very advantageously, as some of the Swedish iron ores are very 
rich in apatite and yield with the basic Bessemer process a very 
rich slag. Three factories grind this slag, producing 10,000 tons 
annually. As the demand for Thomas iron is limited, the produc- 
tion will not increase materially. 

A few years ago Prof. Wiborgh devised a method for utilizing the 
phosphoric acid in the Swedish iron, ores, which carry especially 
large amounts of apatite. These ores are finely ground and the 
resultant powder submitted to the action of powerful magnets. By 
this means the apatite is largely freed from the iron oxide. It is 
then fused with soda and the phosphoric acid is brought into the 
citrate-soluble form of tetracalcium phosphate. The product com- 
pares favorably with Thomas slag and even superphosphate in fer- 
tilizing efficiency. A factory was started at Svarton to manufacture 
the so-called Wiborgh phosphate, but after a short period the works 
were closed. 

There are numerous factories for producing bone meal, as well as 
bone fat and glue and animal charcoal, and a few establishments for 
making poudrette. Herring guano is a staple article. At Gothen- 
burg and its vicinity there are 17 factories engaged in extracting her- 
ring oil and preparing the residual press cakes for fertilizer. The 
annual product is valued at $285,000, of which $208,000 is represented 
by the guano. This industry depends on the success of the annual 
herring catch. 

In 1900 Sweden consumed 253,132 metric tons of artificial ferti- 
lizers, of which one-half were produced at home. In the course of a 
decade the industry has developed so rapidly that there is now a 
surplus of superphosphate available for export, amounting to 17,000 
tons in 1909. ' 

EXPLOSIVES. 

The manufacture of explosives constitutes one of the leading indus- 
tries of Sweden, largely owing to the genius and inventive ability of 
Nobel. In addition to dynamite his other leading invention, bal- 



CHEMICAL IKDUSTKIES OF SWEDEN. 75 

listite, a smokeless gunpowder consisting of a gelatinized mixture of 
nitroglycerin and guncotton, is manufactured. Originally the Nobel 
Co. prepared this powder from equal parts of the two constituents. 
It is now made from one part nitroglycerin and three parts guncotton. 
A small amount of diphenylamine is often added. Gelatinization is 
effected by means of a mixture of alcohol and ether (2 to 1). 

Another distinctively Swedish explosive, Lamm's bellite, is manu- 
factured to a limited extent. Its base is dinitrobenzene, and it belongs 
to the class of picrate powders. The growth of this branch of manu- 
facture in Sweden has been remarkable. In 1870 there was one 
factory, employing 40 workmen, with an annual output of $34,000. 
In 1900 there were 11 factories, with 394 workmen, and an output of 
$724,000. 

COLORS— CALCIUM CARBIDE AND VANADIUM SALTS. 

Small establishments manufacturing coloring matters produce pig- 
ments of domestic materials, lampblack, ochers, zinc white, white lead, 
and cobalt blue, and prepare also, for use in solution or composition, 
the different organic dyestuffs, imported chiefly from Germany. 
There are 46 factories, employing 130 workmen, producing wares of 
an annual value of $234,000. 

Acetylene is widely used in Sweden, and the carbide industry was 
founded almost as early as in the United States. Two factories, one 
at Alby and the other at Trollhattan, with a total of 5,000 horsepower, 
produce not only enough for the needs of the domestic market, but 
also export annually about 1,600 tons. The actual cost of production 
is given as 3 cents per jDOund. 

Sweden has in the past supplied the world's demand for vanadium 
compounds, vanadium chloride for the aniline-black dyeing, and 
ammonium vanadate for use in steel making. The exportation is 
now much less than formerly, for aniline black and copper sulphate 
and sulphide are more in use noAv as catalytic agents. 

MATCHES. 

The match industry is one of the most important in the Kingdom 
and has grown rapidly. Twenty factories produced matches valued 
at $3,422,000 in 1909. Nine-tenths of the total product is exported. 
These Swedish matches are encountered all over the world, despite a 
very keen competition. The export interests complain of the high 
protective duties in most countries. In France, Spain, and Greece 
matches are a Government monopoly. 

The Swedish factory equipment contains many devices for replacing 
manual labor. Lagerman's " complete machine," introduced in 1892 
at the Jonkoping Avorks, is one of the most ingenious labor-saving 
devices known. The match splints, already cut into the proper form 
by other appliances, are fed regularly into one end of this machine and 
emerge at the other end a finished product, packed in boxes, ready for 
shipment. One such machine produces hourly 3,000 boxes of matches. 

Aspen wood is used almost exclusivelj^ in the match industr}^ It 
is easy to cut and porous enough to admit easily of impregnation with 
sulphur or paraffin. The domestic supply of aspen of good quality 
is now seriously reduced, and much is imported from Finland and 
Russia. Most of the chemicals used — phosphorus, antimony, sul- 



76 CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF SWEDEN. 

phur, and paraffin — are imported. This was also formerly the case 
with potassium chlorate until the recent establishment of the Swedish 
electrolytic manufacture. In 1901 the Swedish Government forbade 
the sale in the Kingdom of matches made with yellow phosphorus. 
At present the manufacture of the old-fashioned matches is much 
less than formerly, although the Jonkopi ng works produce a consid- 
erable quantity in which yellow phosphorus is replaced by innocuous 
phosphorus sesquisulphide. In manufacturing the standard safety 
matches of Sweden now the splints are first soaked in paraffin, or in 
a concentrated solution of ammonium phosphate. The ignition mass 
for the heads consists of potassium chlorate, mixed with sulphur or 
antimony sulphide, gum, or dextrin in solution, and small amounts 
of powdered glass and ferric oxide. Potassium dichromate and man- 
ganese dioxide are occasionally added as oxidizers. The friction sur- 
face on the boxes is coated with a mixture of red phosphorus, anti- 
mony sulphide, and dextrin solution. . 

The largest factories in the Kingdom are the two at Jonkoping 
and the " Vulcan " at Tidholm. Under their lead nearly all the 
other manufacturers have combined to prevent undue competition 
and facilitate the export trade. This latter is carried on largelj^ 
through Hamburg and London^ which serve as distributing points 
for much of the world's trade in matches. There has been a rapid 
shrinkage of the export of Swedish matches to Germany, partly as a 
result of recent legislation. In 1909 the export was 1,655 tons, and 
in 1910 but 44 tons. 

\!VOOD PUL.P. 

The manufacture of cellulose, or wood pulp, is another highly 
developed Swedish industry, based also primarily upon its forest 
wealth. The factory for grinding wood, established at Trollhattan 
in 1857, was the pioneer of the pulp industry. The preparation of 
chemical wood pulp was introduced in 1871, the soda process being 
used. In 1874 came the sulphite process, Francke using calcium 
bisulphite, and Ekman the magnesium compound. Both of these 
methods are now utilized, but that of Elanan is used to a less extent 
on account of its greater cost ; the product is, however, of a remark- 
able purity and gloss, and it is preferred as raw material for the 
finer qualities of paper. Swedish wood pulp ranks high, as the wood 
employed — aspen and spruce — is freer from resin than that available 
in most countries. The pulp factories of Sweden number 122, and 
in 1900 employed 6,910 operatives and produced 417,000 metric tons 
of pulp. 

The exports of pulp reached 564,000 tons in 1909, as against 
229,000 tons in 1900, and consisted of 372,000 tons of dry chemical 
pulp, 31,000 tons of wet chemical pulp, 46,000 tons of dry mechan- 
ical pulp, and 115,000 tons of wet mechanical pulp. The total value 
of the exports was $15,372,000. Great Britain takes about 60 per 
cent of the export, other heavy purchasers being France, Norway, 
Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and, recently, the United States. 

There has been a serious overproduction of wood pulp during the 
past three years and prices have been much disorganized. Recently 
the wood-pulp associations of Sweden and Norway have agreed upon 
a systeniatic limitation of the production of mechanical pulp for 1911 



CHEMICAL INDUSTEIES OF SWEDEN. 77 

and 1912. The prospective reduction during the period ending Jan- 
uary 1, 1913, is fixed at 150,000 tons. No restriction is placed on the 
output of chemical pulp. As a result of this agreement prices of 
mechanical pulp have alread}^ been materially advanced. 

PAPER. 

The manufacture of paper is naturally closely allied with that of 
cellulose. In 1909 Sweden had 66 paper mills, employing 7,725 
operatives, the production amounting to 250,000 tons, of which 
137,510 tons, valued at $7,346,000, were exported. The ratio of 
increase is about the same as that of cellulose. Of the paper ex- 
ported, 80 per cent goes to Great Britain and is used chiefly for 
newspapers. 

Swedish filter paper for chemical purposes has maintained a world- 
wide reputation for a century. For a long period it was regarded as 
indispensable for the needs of the analyst, and the manufacturers 
enjoyed a practical monopoly. Rivals in other countries, especially 
in Germany, now compete in furnishing a filter paper carefully freed 
by treatment with hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids from mineral 
matter. The remarkable success attained in earlier years by the 
largest Swedish firm was due to the use of the purest water available 
for manufacturing purposes and the choice of exceptionally pure raw 
material. The peculiar properties of the paper were largely secured 
by freezing it while in a moist condition. The formation -of ice crys- 
tals rendered the feltlike mass sufficiently porous for the purposes of 
rapid filtration. This Swedish firm manufactures noAv a very choice 
grade of writing paper, made by simply dipping its filter paper into 
sizing. ^ 

ALCOHOL,. ^ 

Another industry, that of the manufacture of alcohol, is now 
linked with the great cellulose interests. The customary methods of 
distillation are well developed in the countr}^ There were in 1900 
131 distilleries, producing annually 450,000 hectoliters (11,887,650 
gallons) of spirits containing on an average 50 per cent of alcohol. 
Much of this is for use as a beverage. Of the total amount, 62 per 
cent is manufactured from potatoes, 35 per cent from maize and 
grain, and 3 per cent from beets and molasses. There were 429 dis- 
tilleries in 1875, and only 131 at the close of the century. 

The chemists of Sweden have experimented in a variety of ways to 
solve the problem of manufacturing alcohol from wood and thus find 
an additional source of revenue from the country's forest wealth. 
In the production of wood pulp by the sulphite method there is a 
waste product that the chemists have finally been able to utilize with 
profit in the production of alcohol. The profitable utilization of the 
exhaust lyes drawn off from sulphite boilers has always been a 
problem. For every ton of cellulose made by this process there are 
10 tons of these Ij^es. They contain one-half of the weight of the 
wood originally introduced into the boilers. Among the matters 
present are dextrose and various other sugars, xylose, acetic acid, 
tannic acid, nitrogen compounds, resins, etc., as well as the calcium 
lignin-sulphonate, the chief product of the reaction. Of the sugars 
present most are susceptible of fermentation. They constitute about 



78 CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF SWEDEN. ' • 

1 per cent of the lyes. The treatment of the liquid is comparatively 
simple. It is first neutralized with calcium carbonate, after which 
yeast is introduced. When the fermentation is complete the alcohol 
produced is secured in the ordinary manner. The process yields 6 
gallons of alcohol (100 per cent) for 1,000 gallons of lye. About 14 
gallons are secured for every short ton of cellulose. 

ALCOHOL FEOM WOOD-PULP WASTE. 

As may be imagined, methyl alcohol and other volatile compounds 
are contained in this crude alcohol. It is sold and used as dena- 
tured alcohol for heating and technical purposes. The excise rates 
in Sweden have been adjusted so as to aid this new industry. If the 
process were extended to all Swedish sulphite works, the annual out- 
put would be about 3,500,000 gallons. It is doubtful whether a suf- 
ficient demand exists for this grade of alcohol to furnish a home 
market for such an amount. German chemists are skeptical as to 
the possibility of producing the alcohol economically under existing 
conditions in the Empire, where, on the basis of the Swedish results, 
over 8,000,000 gallons could be produced annually. 

In the attempts to manufacture alcohol directly from wood, investi- 
gation so far has been directed to the simple reaction involved in 
combining one molecule of water with one molecule of cellulose, and 
thereby producing dextrose, from which alcohol is obtained by fer- 
mentation. Chemically, by treatment with sulphuric acid under 
pressure, this change can be readily effected. From ordinary wood, 
alcohol amounting to 5 or 6 per cent of the original weight can be 
thus secured. Pure cellulose yields 15 per cent. The problem is 
essentially of an economic nature. It is claimed in Sweden that it 
has been solved, and that a method has been elaborated for utilizing 
the waste of the sawmills. Details are not yet given. 

mSTILLATIOlV OF ■WOOD. 

The distillation of wood developed at an early day in Sweden, as 
was to be expected in a land so rich in forests. Swedish tar was 
exported to every land and given the preference for coating vessels 
and their rigging, walls, roofs, and roofing paper. It continues to 
enjoy its good repute, but exports are less in quantity than was the 
case half a century ago. There has been renewed activity during 
•the past decade. The foreign trade in this article shows the fluc- 
tuations : 1875, imports 1,T00 and exports 8,300 metric tons ; 1900, 
imports 1,700 and exports 3,600 metric tons; 1909, imports 200 and 
exports 7,614 metric tons. 

The industry is now centered in the northern section of the King- 
dom and shipments take place chiefly from the port of Umea. Much 
of the tar is produced in a small way in old-fashioned tar hollows by 
individuals or families. There are some more modern establish- 
ments, where iron retorts are installed. The census of 1900 reported 
products from such works valued at $58,000. As the exports alone 
of wood tar had a value of $135,000, it is evident that the bulk of 
the output comes from small producers. There are now about 25 
firms engaged in the business, most of them carrying it on in con- 
nection with extensive lumbering and wood-pulp interests. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF SWEDEN". 79 

LARGE COMPANY AT KILAFORS. 

The Skogens Kolaktiebolag, at Kilafors, is the leading company- 
devoted exclusively to wood distillation. It uses annually for this 
purpose over 100,000 cubic meters of pine wood (cubic meter = 
35.314 cubic feet). A good example of the diversity of interests 
carried on by a Swedish company is seen in the case of the Stora 
Kopparbergs Bergslags Aktiebolag, of Falun. This company is said 
to be the oldest industrial corporation in the world, having received 
a royal charter in 1347 after a previous existence of over a century. 
For two centuries, prior to 1750, it was the chief producer of copper 
in the entire world. Since then, as the copper supply diminished, 
it has devoted itself to iron, and is to-day the leading producer of 
iron and steel in Sweden, owning the largest iron works in northern 
Europe. During the past century it gradually^ increased its land- 
holdings until it now owns 750,000 acres of forest and has become 
the largest exporter of forest products in the Kingdom. At Skutskar 
it operates what is thought to be the largest sawmill in the world, 
and at Kvarnsveden, it lately built a combined pulp factory and 
paper mill at a cost of $760,000. Its annual dividends are 14 per cent. 

VARIETY or PRODUCTS. 

The Kilafors Co. and a few others, notably the Skanska At- 
tikfabriken, of Perstorp, furnish a wide variety of products ob- 
tained from the destructive distillation of wood. Their lists contain 
the various charcoals, wood naphtha of 64°, methyl alcohol free from 
acetone, pyroligneous acid, technical and crystallized acetic acid, 
formaldehyde, creosote, carbonates of creosote and guaiacol, turpen- 
tine, lampblack, tar oil, carbolineum (for the impregnation of wood), 
pitch, etc. Little effort is made to go further in the isolation of the 
numerous other constituents of wood tar, or to use those separated 
for the manufacture of higher derivatives. 

Forty years ago factories were started in Sweden for the purpose 
of utilizing the stumps of spruce and other conifers, by subjecting 
them to destructive distillation. Apart from tar, etc., it was sought 
to secure more particularly the crude wood oil, used in place of 
turpentine. This branch of manufacture has not been very success- 
ful, as it has not been possible to free the product from a pronounced 
burnt odor. At present six small factories carry on this distillation. 
The production of resin and turpentine is strangely limited for a 
country so rich in conifers as Sweden. There is an annual import 
of 400 tons of turpentine. 

LIMITED PRODUCTION OF COAL TAR. 

There are 27 gas works in Sweden, but with the abundant water 
power and cheap electricity the indifstry does not expand rapidly. 
At Gothenburg the annual per capita consumption is 1,236 cubic feet. 
At Stockholm it is 3,088 cubic feet. Ammonia is collected in a few 
works in the form of the sulphate. The tar fi'om the larger works is 
used for producing asphalt, carbolic acid, and creosote oils, chiefly 
for impregnating wood. The domestic supply of tar is insufficient, 
and there is an annual import of about 2,800 metric tons. One 



80 CHEMICAL INDUSTEIES OF SWEDEN. 

reason for the limited production of coal tar is the fact that Sweden 
possesses no coking coals and is forced to import coke from abroad. 
But little is done to carry on any systematic separation of the con- 
stituents of coal tar, apart from the carbolic acid. 

NOVEL METHOD OF PURIFYING COAL. TAR. 

A Swedish firm has introduced a novel and valuable feature into 
the treatment of coal tar. The Aktieboiaget Joh. Ohlssons Teclmiska 
Fabrik, of Stockholm, has solved the problem of removing the carbon 
from coal tar. The black color of tar is due to the presence of a large 
amount of carbon in an extremely finely divided state. It constitutes 
about one-quarter of the weight of the crude material. As the liquid 
tar has about the same specific gravity as the solid carbon, the latter 
remains suspended. The firm in question has succeeded in com- 
pletely isolating the carbon from the liquid constituents of tar, leav- 
ing the latter in the form of a clear, transparent, gold-brown liquid. 
Such a purified tar is evidently much better adapted for fractional 
distillation than the crude material, and should facilitate the separa- 
tion of the hydrocarbons and other compound's with a high boiling 
point, an operation rendered difficult in the process of ordinary tar 
distillation owing to the foaming caused by the fine carbon toward 
the end of the operation. 

The carbon separated by the Ohlsson process is totally different 
from lampblack in its physical properties and is distinctly of a gra- 
phitic nature. When pressed into a compact form it furnishes admir- 
able electrodes for arc lighting and also for electrochemical w^ork. It 
could probably be used with equal advantage in making crucibles, 
as it possesses marked superiority over retort graphite. 

Details are withheld with regard to the method used for effecting 
the separation. In all probability light hydrocarbons are added to 
the tar to lower its specific gravity, and the actual separation is 
brought about by the use of centrifugals. The added hydrocarbons 
can be removed by distillation from the residual liquid tar. This 
process is worthy of careful study owing to its possible bearing upon 
the isolation of the more complicated higher boiling constituents of 
coal tar. 

SUGAR. 

Despite the northerly climate and various other unfavorable con- 
ditions, the production of beet sugar in Sweden has increased, until 
sugar importation has practically ceased. Beginning with 1 factory 
in 1876, there are now 20 in active operation, the largest producing 
120 tons daily. The total annual production is about 130,000 tons. 
There are 9 sugar refineries employing 2,402 operatives. All fac- 
tories employ the diffusion process. The industry is located entirely 
in the lower end of the peninsula. Seed is brought from other more- 
favored lands. The average yield of sugar is very high, taking all 
factories into consideration, being 3.5 metric tons per hectare (2.4-7 
acres) . The average yield in France and Belgium is 3.2 tons and in 
Germany 4 tons. The industry has been fostered by a protective 
tariff, amounting at present to 1.82 cents per pound. The rate of 
duty has varied at different times, but has never been less than 1.6 
cents. A helpful factor in establishing new factories has been the 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF SWEDEN. 81 

remission for five years of all taxes on such works when built at least 
19 miles from any existing factory. 

STARCH— GLUE— GELATIN— YEAST. 

Starch is manufactured on a somewhat extensive scale, chiefly from 
potatoes. There are 95 factories, producing a total of 7,580 tons 
annually. This meets the entire domestic demand. A large share 
of the product is changed into glucose and used for conserves. Glue 
and gelatin are likewise produced in nearly sufficient quantity to 
meet domestic needs. There are 13 factories, employing 223 work- 
men, and producing wares valued annually at $300,000. Yeast is 
made in several factories, the annual output being 2,785 tons. 

MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICAL PRODUCTS. 

In 1900 there were 14 oil factories, employing 159 operatives. The 
annual product was 11,736 tons of oil cake and 4,418 tons of linseed 
and rape oil, as well as small quantities of fish oil and train oil. In 
1909 Sweden imported 16,904 tons of animal and vegetable oils, 872 
tons of train oil, 684 tons of olein, and 8,017 tens of fats. 

One Swedish specialty in this branch deserves note. The " Col- 
lanoljefabriken " has produced for a number of years an oil very 
highly valued for treating leather and rendering it waterproof. The 
composition and manufacture are kept secret, but it is supposed to be 
extracted from certain tropical plants. The oil is extremely viscous, 
can be drawn out in long strings, and repels water to a most pro- 
nounced degree. As a leather preservative it seems to render excep- 
tional service. 

The soap industry is highly developed. There are 42 factories 
producing annually 13,000 tons of soft soap and 3,700 tons of hard 
soap. Excellent toilet soap is manufactured in a few establishments. 
Imports of soap are relatively small. In some factories the produc- 
tion of scents is also extensive, the annual output being valued at 
$200,000. This is about six times the value of the imports of scents. 

The candle industry is so developed that it practically supplies the 
domestic demand. There are 3 factories, employing 312 workmen. 
The annual product, which includes also stearin, is valued at $6,188,- 
000. The imports are insignificant. 

The domestic demand for varnish is very nearly covered by Swedish 
works. The}^ number 15 and employ 91 workmen. 

The manufacture of cement has grown rapidly of late years and is 
now an exporting industry. In 6 works 1,336 operatives are em- 
ployed. The annual output of 126,000 tons has a value of $1,130,000. 
About one-third of this is exported, chiefly to the adjacent countries. 

There are Swedish concerns engaged in the manufacture of lactic 
acid, lanolin, fruit essences, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical prepara- 
tions, and some of the last named .are of international repute. Liqiiid 
carbonic acid is made in three factories, the total annual output being 
415 tons. 

MINING AND METALLURGY. 

The mining and metallurgical interests are so closely connected 
with chemical industries that a few data are appended. In 1902 
30,700 workmen were employed, of which 14,600 were employed in 
mining proper, including 10,500 in the iron mines. 

65401°— 12 6 



82 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OP SWEDEN". 



The quantities of ores and minerals produced in 1902 were as 
follows, in metric tons: Iron ores, 2,897,000; lead and silver ores, 
9,400 ; copper ores, 30,000 ; zinc ores, 49,000 ; manganese, 2,800 ; clays, 
216,000; feldspar, 18,000; coal, 305,000. In 1908 the production "of 
iron ore had increased to 4,713,000 metric tons, of which 3.444,000 
were exported. 

Metals were produced in 1908 as follows, in metric tons : Pig iron, 
556,000; iron and steel bars, ingots, blooms, etc., 772,000; zinc, 274; 
lead, 277; copper, 2,807. Silver to the extent of 1,389 pounds and 
gold to the extent of 44 pounds were also produced. 

Iron constitutes 95 per cent of the value of the metallic output. 
Most of the companies engaged in the production of iron and steel are 
partners in the Jarnkontoret, an association that represents a pecul- 
iarly valuable method of organization for mutual aid and protection. 
[A report covering the workings of the Jarnkontoret, or Iron In- 
stitute, and the progress it has made in the reduction of iron ore in 
electric blast furnaces was published in Daily Consular and Trade 
Keports for July 19, 1911.] 

TRADE STATISTICS. 

In the following table a detailed statement is given of the imports 
of chemicals, drugs, dyes, and raw material used in their manufac- 
ture, as furnished by the annual report of the Swedish customs 
administration for 1909. In some cases the countries of origin are 
added in the order of importance. In many cases the countries indi- 
cated are simply points of distribution and not of origin. 

[Ar., Argentina ; Austr., Australia ; B., Belgium ; F., France ; G., Germany ; N., Nether- 
lands ; Nor., Norway; R., Russia; U. S., United States; U. K., United Kingdom. 1 



Articles. 


Metric 
tons. 


Country of 
origin. 


Articles. 


Metric 
tons. 


Country of 
origin. 


Fats 


8,017 

16,904 

111,485 

872 

14 

4,302 

412 

2,782 

200 

529 

57 

672 

728 

78,049 

46 

11 

8 

46 

260 

.3 

186 

22 

2 

102 

91 

24 
340 

137 

64 

11 

123 


G., F., U. S. 
F.,G., B.,N. 

Finland, G. 

U. K., G. 
G.,N., Greece. 
Nor., Spain. 

N. 

G..U. K., F. 
U. K.,G. 
G., U. K. 

G. 

D. 

F., G. 

N., G., U. K., 

U.S. 
G. 

G. 
D. 
G., U. K. 


COLORS, ETC.— contd. 
Bronze powder 


8 
110 

207 
15 

687 
13 

503 
16 

37 

46 

66 

960 

149 

94 

22 

5,245 

1,003 

542 

56 

6,286 

510 
2,692 
2,563 

65 
29 




Oils, nonvolatile 

Petroleum 




Train oil 


Bronze and chromium 

colors. 
Catechu 


G.,N. 


Camphor 




Gums and resins 


G.,U. K. 


Turpentine. , 

Coal tar 


Cinnabar 

Coal-tar colors 


G. 

G., Switz. 


Wood tar 


Colors in tubes and glass. 
Dyewoods 


G. 


Barytes 


G. 


Cryolite 


Gall apples 

Indigo: 

Extract 




Fluorspar 




Magnesite 


G. 


Pyrites 


Synthetic 


G. 


Candies 


Lampblack 


G., N., U. S: 


CosrAetics 


Lithopone 




Perfumes 


Paints 


U.K.,G.,U.S. 


Soap: 
Toilet 


Printer's ink: 

Black 


G. 


Ordinary 


Colored 


G. 


Albumen 


Quebracho wood 

Red lead 


U. K., G.,Ar. 




U. K., G.,N. 


Celluloid 


Red ocher 


G.,U. K.,N. 


Collodion 


Sumach and extract 

Tanning materials 

White lead 


G., Italy. 


Enamel material 

Rennet extract 


G., U. K., F., 

R., Italy. 


Rubber, artificial 


G.,U. K. 


Zinc, white 


G.,N., B. 




Other colors 


G., F., N., U. 


Medicines 


CHEMICALS. 

Alum: 

Chrome 


K.,B., Spain, 


COLOBS, ETC. 

Alizarin 


U.S. 




G., B. 


Blacking 


Potassium 


G. 



CHEMICAL INDUSTKIES OF SWEDEN. 



83 



Articles. 



CHEMICALS — continued 

Alum cake 

Alumina 

Aluminum sulphate . . . 

Ammonia 

Ammonium: 

Carbonate of 

Chloride of 

Nitrate of 

Sulphate of 

Antimony 

Argols 

Arsenic, white 

Borax 

Bleaching powder 

Boric acid 

Bromine and bromides. 

Carborundum 

Cement 

Chloroform 

Citric acid 

Cobalt oxide 

Copper sulphate (blue 
vitriol). 

Ferrocyanides 

Ferrous sulphate (green 
vitriol). 

Formalin 

Glycerin 

Graphite 

Hydrochloric acid 

Iodine and iodides 

Lanolin 

Lead acetate 

Lime 

Lysol 

Magnesium; 

Chloride of 

Sulphate of 

Naphthalene 

Nitric acid 

Nitric ether 

Nitrobenzene (mirban 
oil). 

Opium 

Oxalic acid 

Phosphorus 

Phosphoric acid 

Potash, caustic: 

Liquid 

SoUd 



Metric 
tons. 



349 

4 

1,024 

13 

137 

226 

11 

76 

118 

19 

13 

365 

3,018 

76 

10 

3 

12, 776 

6 

14 

3 

104 

11 
945 

5 

214 
442 
2,134 
4 
6 
61 
1,146 
1 

425 
140 

74 

89 
5 

46 

1 
38 
88 
25 

21 
4 



Country of 
origin. 



Articles. 



U. K., G. 

U. K., G. 

G.,N. 

D. 

G. 

F. 

G.,B. 

U. K. 

U.K. 



G. 



G. 

D. 

G.,B., U. K. 

G.,U. K. 

G. 

U.K. 

G. 

U. K., G. 

G., F.,N. 



G. 

G. 

G. 

G.,N. 

Nor , T>. 

G. 

G. 

G. 
G. 
G. 

G.,N. 

G.,N. 

G. 
G. 

U.K. 
G. 

G.,B. 
G. 



CHEMICALS —continued 

Potassium: 

Carbonate of 

Chlorate of 

Chloride of 

Chromate of 

Cyanide of 

Nitrate of 

Sulphate of 

Sulpliide of (includ' 
ingNa2S). 
Quinine preparations . . 

Saccharin 

SalicyUc acid 

Salt: 

Crude 

Refined 

Soda, caustic: 

Sohd 

Liquid 

Soda ash 

Sodium: 

Acetate of 

Chlorate of 

Chromate of 

Nitrate of 

Sulphite and hypo- 
sulphite of. 
Sulphate of 

Sulphur: 

Crude 

Flowers 

Refined 

Sulphuric acid: 

Fuming 

Ordinary 

Superphosphate 

Tartaric acid 

Thorium nitrate 

Tin and lead oxides 

Tin salts 

Water glass 

Zinc 

Zinc chloride 

Other chemical prepa- 
rations. 



Metric 
tons. 



1,312 

207 

1,805 

87 

4 

267 

26 

451 



1.3 

4 

4 



1 2, 174 
24, 143 

1,111 



13, 490 



36 

3 

8 

28, 894 

265 

20,226 



23,255 

59 

3,521 

509 

1,446 

2,845 

36 

L7 
58 
1 
405 

8 

50 

1,444 



Country of 
origin. 



G., Austr. 

F.,U. K. 

G. 

U. K., G. 

G. 

G. 

G. 

G.,U. K. 

G. 
G. 
G. 

G. 

G.,U. K.,N. 

U. K., G., B., 
N. 

S., U. K., B., 

N., Fr. 

G.,B.,N. 

F. 

U. K., G. 

G. 

G., B. 

U. K., G., B_ 

N.,U. S. 

Italy, U. K. 
Italy, G., R. 
U.K., Italy, (J; 

G.,N. 
G.,N. 
B.,U. K. 



G., U.K., Nor. 

N. 
G. 
U. K., G. 

G., U.K.. Nor. 

U. S.,N. 



1 Bushels. 

It Avill be seen from the table that Sweden offers a fairly good 
market for a gTeat variety of chemical products. Germany is the 
chief source of supply. The United States furnishes 78,143 tons of 
petroleum, 4,314 tons of lubricating oils, 3,913 tons of molasses, 
812 tons of fats, 1,157 tons of cottonseed oil, 1,543 tons of corn oil, and 
284 tons of other oils. 



84 



CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OP SWEDEN. 



EXPORTATION OF CPIEMICAL GOODS. 



In the following table are shown the Swedish exports in 1909 of 
chemicals and goods in the manufacture of which chemicals are used: 



Articles. 



Fats 

Oils and olein 

Coal tar 

Wood tar 

Turpentine, crude 

Feldspar 

Rennet 

Soap 

Lampblack 

Red ocher 

Tanning extracts 

Matches (value, S3,050, 
000). 

Paper... 



Metric 
tons. 



735 
1,299 
4,461 
7,614 

191 

16, 575 

61 



59 
392 

216 

196 
26, 868 



137, 510 



Destination. 



F., G., N B., 

U. K., Nor. 
U. K., G. 

Austr,, U. K., 
Ar., U. S., 
Tunis. 

G., Nor., Bra- 
zil. 
Finland, R.- 

U. S. 

India, U. K., 
Austr., U. S., 
Alrica. 



Articles. 



Wood pulp 

Ammonium sulphate 
Calcium carbide 

Cement 

Copper sulphate 

Ferrocyanides 

Potassium chlorate. . . 

Sodium: 

Chlorate of 

Sulphate of 

Sulphuric acid 

Superphosphate 

Tin and lead oxides. . . 



Metric 
tons. 



564, 000 

331 

1,556 



33, 197 

182 

69 

1,400 



483 

598 

203 

17, 245 

60 



Destination. 



Brazil, D., 
Austr., U. 
K., Ar., F, 
South Alrica. 

G.,R.,U.S. 

Japan, G., U. 
K., Nor., 
Austr., R.,B. 

R., G., U. K., 
N., Japan. 

N.,G. 

Nor. 

D. Nor,, R., 
Austr. 



THE FLTUEE FOR SWEDISH PROD LOTS. 

From the foregoing table it is evident that, apart from the magnifi- 
cent array of its wares based upon wood as a primary material, 
Sweden has already begun to export in quantity several other prod- 
ucts of its chemical industry. . The chief representatives in this class 
are cement and superphosphate, supplied chiefly to adjacent coun- 
tries, and the chlorates and calcium carbide, products of the recently 
established electrochemical works. It is likely that the exportation 
of the latter products will steadily expand and that Sweden will 
become a strong competitor in the world's markets for electrochemi- 
cal products on account of the cheap water power. That its paper 
and pulp exports will continue to increase is likewise probable. 
While for the moment the match trade shows no evidence of a check, 
there is less confidence in its future growth. Tariffs, fiscal regula- 
tions, and an increasing power and efficiency among foreign com- 
petitors are threatening to restrict the field of operations very seri- 
ously. For the time being the United Kingdom and the British 
Colonies are the best customers of the Swedish match trade. 



EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES. 



The values of the exports of chemical products to the United 
States in the four years 1907-1910 were as follows : 



Articles. 


1907 


1908 


1909 


1910 


Cement 


$41,000 
6,000 


$7, 000 

4,000 

2,500 

3,000 

124,000 

496, 000 






Chemicals (chiefly caustic alkalies) 


$7,666 


$13,000 


Fusel and tar oil 


5,400 


Glue 








Matches 


112.000 
276, 000 


207,000 
850,000 

1,318,000 


157,000 


Paper 


623,000 


Wood pulp: 

Chemical 


1,636,000 


Mechanical 


499,000 


1,060,000 


4,500 









CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF SWEDEN. 85 

The United States purchases Swedish bar iron to the amount of 
over $1,000,000 annually, and about $600,000 worth of wire rod, as 
well as smaller quantities of several other forms of the metal. The 
export of Swedish ferrosilicon to the United States was valued at 
$5,000 in 1909, while in 1910 it had attained a value of $51,000. Of 
much greater interest is the sudden increase of the American demand 
for Swedish iron ore. The value of the importations ranged from 
$12,000 to $32,000 during the period 1907-1909. In 1910 the figure 
reached $983,000. For a number of years past America has pur- 
chased Swedish pig iron to an average annual value of $90,000. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE SWEDISH MARKET. 

As the American manufacturers of heavy and finer chemicals ap- 
proach the point of competing with Germany and Great Britain in 
the world's markets, they will find in the Swedish trade an important 
field. For the time being there is an opportunit}^ to extend trade in 
colors, paints and pigments, blacking, varnishes, and a few similar 
articles, the value of which is already appreciated in Sweden. The 
consumption of quinine preparations is also relatively large. 

The outcome of the Swedish studies in the electric smelting of iron 
ores may mean much for certain iron deposits in the United States 
where conditions are not unlike those existing in Sweden. 

o 



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019 566 929 6 



